B 


flSS 


LIBRARY 

UNIVCR-ITY  OP 

CAL/P       W'A 
SANT*  HR'JZ 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE 
GRAY- HORSE  TROOP 


HAMLIN    GARLAND 

SUNSET    EDITION 


HARPER   &   BROTHERS 
NEW     YORK     AND     LONDON 


D 


COPYRIGHT.    19O1,     BY    THE    CURTIS    PUBLISHING    COMPANY 
COPYRIGHT      19O2.    BY    HAML1N    GARLAND 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

I.  A  CAMP  IN  THE  SNOW i 

II.  THE  STREETER  GUN-RACK 14 

III.  CURTIS  ASSUMES  CHARGE  OF  THE  AGENT    .  29 

IV.  THE  BEAUTIFUL  ELSIE  BEB  BEE 38 

V.  CAGED  EAGLES 48 

VI.  CURTIS  SEEKS  A  TRUCE 61 

VII.  ELSIE  RELENTS  A  LITTLE 7o 

vin.  CURTIS  WRITES  A  LONG  LETTER 77 

IX.  CALLED  TO  WASHINGTON  .    .            ....  87 

X.  CURTIS  AT  HEADQUARTERS   .        .....  105 

XL  CURTIS  GRAPPLES  WITH  BRISBANE   ....  114 

XII.  SPRING  ON  THE  ELK 131 

XIII.  ELSIE  PROMISES  TO  RETURN. 137 

XIV.  ELSIE  REVISITS  CURTIS 141 

XV.  ELSIE  ENTERS  HER  STUDIO  .......  155 

XVI.  THE  CAMP  AMONG  THE  ROSES 163 

XVII.  A  FLUTE,  A  DRUM,  AND  A  MESSAGE  ....  174 

XVIII.  ELSIE'S  ANCIENT  LOVE  AFFAIR 194 

XIX.  THE  SHERIFF'S  MOB 205 

XX.  FEMININE  STRATEGY 219 

XXL  IN  STORMY  COUNCILS 230 

XXII.  A  COUNCIL  AT  NIGHT 246 

iii 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

XXIII.  THE  RETURN  OF  THE  MOB 261 

XXIV.  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 276 

XXV.  AFTER  THE  STRUGGLE 285 

XXVI.  THE  WARRIOR  PROCLAIMS  HIMSELF.    .    .  301 

XXVII.  BRISBANE  COMES  FOR  ELSIE 313 

XXVIII.  A  WALK  IN  THE  STARLIGHT 327 

XXIX.  ELSIE  WARNS  CURTIS 339 

XXX.  THE  CAPTURE  OF  THE  MAN 344 

XXXI.  OUTWITTING  THE  SHERIFF 355 

XXXII.  AN  EVENTFUL  NIGHT 364 

XXXIII.  ELSIE  CONFESSES  HER  LOVE 377 

XXXIV.  SEED-TIME 390 

XXXV.  THE  BATTLE  WITH  THE  WEEDS    ....  398 

XXXVI.  THE  HARVEST-HOME 401 

XXXVII.  THE  MINGLING  OF  THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW  405 


THE   CAPTAIN  OF 
THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF 
THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

i 

A  CAMP  IN  THE  SNOW 

WINTER  in  the  upper  heights  of  the  Bear  Tooth 
Range  is  a  glittering  desolation  of  snow  with 
a  flaming  blue  sky  above.  Nothing  moves,  nothing 
utters  a  sound,  save  the  cony  at  the  mouth  of  the 
spiral  shaft,  which  sinks  to  his  deeply  buried  den  in 
the  rocks.  The  peaks  are  like  marble  domes,  set 
high  in  the  pathway  of  the  sun  by  day  and  thrust 
amid  the  stars  by  night.  The  firs  seem  hopeless 
under  their  ever  -  increasing  burdens.  The  streams 
are  silenced — only  the  wind  is  abroad  in  the  waste, 
the  tireless,  pitiless  wind,  fanged  like  ingratitude, 
insatiate  as  fire. 

But  it  is  beautiful,  nevertheless,  especially  of  a 
dear  dawn,  when  the  shadows  are  vividly  purple  and 
each  rime- wreathed  summit  is  smit  with  ethereal 
fire,  and  each  eastern  slope  is  resplendent  as  a  high- 
way of  powdered  diamonds — or  at  sunset,  when  the 
high  crests  of  the  range  stand  like  flaming  mile- 
stones leading  to  the  Celestial  City,  and  the  lakes 

I 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

are  like  pools  of  pure  gold  caught  in  a  robe  of  green 
velvet.  Yet  always  this  land  demands  youth  and 
strength  in  its  explorer. 

King  Frost's  dominion  was  already  complete  over 
all  the  crests,  over  timber-line,  when  young  Captain 
Curtis  set  out  to  cross  the  divide  which  lay  between 
Lake  Congar  and  Fort  Sherman — a  trip  to  test  the 
virtue  of  a  Sibley  tent  and  the  staying  qualities  of  a 
mountain  horse. 

Bennett,  the  hairy  trapper  at  the  head  of  the  lake, 
advised  against  it.  "The  snow  is  soft — I  reckon 
you  better  wait  a  week." 

But  Curtis  wras  a  seasoned  mountaineer  and  took 
pride  in  assaulting  the  stern  barrier.  "  Besides,  my 
leave  of  absence  is  nearly  up/'  he  said  to  the  trapper. 

"Well,  you're  the  doctor/'  the  old  trapper  replied. 
"Good  luck  to  ye,  Cap." 

It  was  sunrise  of  a  crisp,  clear  autumn  morning 
when  they  started,  and  around  them  the  ground  was 
still  bare,  but  by  noon  they  were  wallowing  mid-leg 
deep  in  new-fallen  snow.  Curtis  led  the  way  on  foot 
— his  own  horse  having  been  packed  to  relieve  the 
burdens  of  the  others — while  Sergeant  Pierce,  reso- 
lute and  uncomplaining,  brought  up  the  rear. 

"We  must  camp  beside  the  sulphur  spring  to- 
night/' Curtis  said,  as  they  left  timber-line  and  en- 
tered upon  the  bleak,  wind-swept  slopes  of  Grizzly 
Bear. 

"Very  well,  sir,"  Pierce  cheerily  replied,  and  till 
three  o'clock  they  climbed  steadily  towards  the  far- 
off  glacial  heights,  the  drifts  ever  deepening,  the  cold 
ever  intensifying.  They  had  eaten  no  food  since 
dawn,  and  the  horses  were  weak  with  hunger  and 

2 


A  CAMP  IN  THE  SNOW 

weariness  as  they  topped  the  divide  and  looked  down 
upon  the  vast  eastern  slope.  The  world  before  them 
seemed  even  more  inhospitable  and  wind-swept  than 
the  land  they  had  left  below  them  to  the  west.  The 
air  was  filled  with  flying  frost,  the  sun  was  weak 
and  pale,  and  the  plain  was  only  a  pale-blue  sea  far, 
far  below  to  the  northeast.  The  wind  blew  through 
the  pass  with  terrible  force,  and  the  cold  nipped  every 
limb  like  a  famishing  white  wolf. 

"There  is  the  sulphur  spring,  sir,"  said  Pierce, 
pointing  towards  a  delicate  strand  of  steam  which 
rose  from  a  clump  of  pines  in  the  second  basin  be- 
neath them. 

"Quite  right,  sergeant,  and  we  must  make  that  in 
an  hour.  I'd  like  to  take  an  observation  here,  but 
I  reckon  we'd  better  slide  down  to  camp  before  the 
horses  freeze/' 

The  dry  snow,  sculptured  by  the  blast  in  the  pass, 
made  the  threadlike  path  an  exceedingly  elusive 
line  to  keep,  and  trailing  narrowed  to  a  process  of 
feeling  with  the  feet;  but  Curtis  set  his  face  reso- 
lutely into  the  northeast  wind  and  led  the  way  down 
the  gulch.  For  the  first  half-mile  the  little  pack- 
train  crawled  slowly  and  hesitatingly,  like  a  bewil- 
dered worm,  turning  and  twisting,  retracing  its  way, 
circling  huge  bowlders,  edging  awful  cliffs,  slipping, 
stumbling,  but  ever  moving,  ever  descending;  and, 
at  last,  while  yet  the  sun's  light  glorified  the  icy  kings 
behind  them,  the  Captain  drew  into  the  shelter  of  the 
clump  of  pines  from  which  the  steam  of  the  warm 
spring  rose  like  a  chimney's  cheery  greeting. 

"Whoa,  boys!"  called  Curtis,  and  with  a  smile  at 
Pierce,  added,  "  Here  we  are,  home  again!" 

3 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

It  was  not  a  cheerful  place  to  spend  the  night,  for 
even  at  this  level  the  undisturbed  snow  lay  full  twelve 
inches  deep  and  the  pines  were  bowed  with  the  weight 
of  it,  and  as  the  sun  sank  the  cold  deepened  to  zero 
point ;  but  the  sergeant  drew  off  his  gloves  and  began 
to  free  the  horses  from  their  packs  quite  as  if  these 
were  the  usual  conditions  of  camping. 

"  Better  leave  the  blankets  on/'  remarked  the  young 
officer.  "They'll  need  'em  for  warmth." 

The  sergeant  saluted  and  continued  his  work, 
deft  and  silent,  while  Curtis  threw  up  a  little  tent  on 
a  cleared  spot  and  banked  it  snugly  with  snow.  In  a 
very  short  time  a  fire  was  blazing  and  some  coffee 
boiling.  The  two  men  seemed  not  to  regard  the 
cold  or  the  falling  night,  except  in  so  far  as  the  wind 
threatened  the  horses. 

"It's  hard  luck  on  them/'  remarked  Curtis,  as  they 
were  finishing  their  coffee  in  the  tent;  "but  it  is  un- 
avoidable. I  don't  think  it  safe  to  try  to  go  down  that 
slide  in  the  dusk.  Do  you?" 

"  It's  dangerous  at  any  time,  sir,  and  with  our  horses 
weak  as  they  are,  it  sure  would  be  taking  chances." 

"We'll  make  Tom  Skinner's  by  noon  to-morrow, 
and  be  out  of  the  snow,  probably."  The  young  sol- 
dier put  down  his  tin  cup  and  drew  a  map  from  his 
pocket.  "Hold  a  light,  sergeant;  I  want  to  make 
some  notes  before  I  forget  them/' 

While  the  sergeant  held  a  candle  for  him,  Curtis 
rapidly  traced  with  a  soft  pencil  a  few  rough  lines 
upon  the  map.  "  That  settles  that  water-shed  ques- 
tion ;"  he  pointed  with  his  pencil.  "  Here  is  the 
dividing  wall,  not  over  there  where  Lieutenant  Crom- 
bie  drew  it.  Nothing  is  more  deceptive  than  the  rela- 

4 


A  CAMP  IN   THE  SNOW 

tive  heights  of  ranges.  Well,  now  take  a  last  look 
at  the  horses/'  he  said,  putting  away  his  pencil,  "and 
I'll  unroll  our  blankets." 

As  they  crawled  into  their  snug  sleeping -bags  Cur- 
tis said  again,  with  a  sigh,  "  I'm  sorry  for  the  ponies." 

"They'll  be  all  right  now,  Captain;  they've  got 
something  in  their  stomachs.  If  a  cayuse  has  any 
fuel  in  him  he's  like  an  engine — he'll  keep  warm," 
and  so  silence  fell  on  them,  and  in  the  valley  the  cold 
deepened  till  the  rocks  and  the  trees  cried  out  in  the 
rigor  of  their  resistance. 

The  sun  was  filling  the  sky  with  an  all-pervading 
crimson-and-orange  mist  when  the  sergeant  crawled 
out  of  his  snug  nest  and  started  a  fire.  The  air  was 
perfectly  still,  but  the  frost  gripped  each  limb  with 
benumbing  fury.  The  horses,  with  blankets  awry, 
stood  huddled  close  together  in  the  shelter  of  the 
pines  not  far  away.  As  the  sergeant  appeared  they 
whinnied  to  express  their  dependence  upon  him,  and 
when  the  sun  rose  they  turned  their  broadsides  to  it 
gratefully. 

The  two  men,  with  swift,  unhesitating  action,  set 
to  work  to  break  camp.  In  half  an  hour  the  tent  was 
folded  and  packed,  the  horses  saddled,  and  then, 
lustily  singing,  Curtis  led  the  way  down  upon  the 
floor  of  the  second  basin,  which  narrowed  towards 
the  north  into  a  deep  and  wooded  valley  leading  to 
the  plains.  The  grasp  of  winter  weakened  as  they 
descended;  December  became  October.  The  snow 
thinned,  the  streams  sang  clear,  and  considerably 
before  noon  the  little  train  of  worn  and  hungry  horses 
came  out  upon  the  grassy  shore  of  a  small  lake  to  bask 
in  genial  sunshine.  From  this  point  the  road  to 

5 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

Skinner's  was  smooth  and  easy,  and  quite  untouched 
of  snow. 

As  they  neared  the  miner's  shack,  a  tall  youn^ 
Payonnay,  in  the  dress  of  a  cowboy,  came  out  to 
meet  them,  smiling  broadly. 

"I'm.  looking  for  you,  Captain." 

"Are  you,  Jack?  Well,  you  see  me.  What's  your 
message?" 

"The  Colonel  says  you  are  to  come  in  right  off. 
He  told  me  to  tell  you  he  had  an  order  for  you." 

A  slouching  figure,  supporting  a  heap  of  greasy 
rags,  drew  near,  and  a  low  voice  drawled,  weakly: 
"Jack's  been  here  since  Friday.  I  told  him  where 
you  was,  but  he  thought  he'd  druther  lay  by  my  fire 
than  hunt  ye/' 

Curtis  studied  the  squat  figure  keenly.  "You 
weren't  looking  for  the  job  of  crossing  the  range 
yourself,  were  you?" 

The  tramplike  miner  grinned  and  sucked  at  his 
pipe.  "Well,  no — I  can't  say  that  I  was,  but  I  like 
to  rub  it  into  these  lazy  Injuns." 

Jack  winked  at  Curtis  with  humorous  apprecia- 
tion. "  He's  a  dandy  to  rub  it  into  an  Injun,  don't 
you  think?" 

Even  Skinner  laughed  at  this,  and  Curtis  said: 
"  Unsaddle  the  horses  and  give  them  a  chance  at  the 
grass,  sergeant.  We  can't  go  into  the  fort  to-night 
with  the  packs.  And,  Skinner,  I  want  to  hire  a  horse 
of  you,  while  you  help  Pierce  bring  my  outfit  into  the 
fort  to-morrow.  I  must  hurry  on  to  see  what's  in 
the  wind." 

"All  right,  Captain,  anything  I've  got  is  yours/' 
responded  the  miner,  heartily. 

6 


A  CAMP  IN  THE  SNOW 

The  bugles  were  sounding  "  retreat "  as  the  young 
officer  rode  up  to  the  door  of  Colonel  Quinlan's  quar- 
ters and  reported  for  duty. 

"Good-evening,  Major/'  called  the  Colonel,  with  a 
quizzical  smile  and  a  sharp  emphasis  on  the  word 
major. 

"Major!"  exclaimed  Curtis;  "  what  do  you  mean — " 

"Not  a  wholesale  slaughter  of  your  superiors. 
Oh  no!  You  are  Major  by  the  grace  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  Indian  Affairs.  Colonel  Hackett,  of  the  War 
Department,  writes  me  that  you  have  been  detailed 
as  Indian  agent  at  Fort  Smith.  You'll  find  your 
notification  in  your  mail,  no  doubt/' 

Curtis  touched  his  hat  in  mock  courtesy.  "  Thanks, 
Mr.  Secretary;  your  kindness  overwhelms  me/' 

"Didn't  think  the  reform  administration  could  get 
along  without  you,  did  you?"  asked  the  Colonel,  with 
some  humor.  He  was  standing  at  his  gate.  "  Come 
in,  and  we'll  talk  it  over.  You  seem  a  little  breath- 
less." 

"  It  does  double  me  up,  I  confess.  But  I  can't  con- 
sistently back  out  after  the  stand  I've  made." 

"  Back  out !  Well,  not  if  I  can  prevent  it.  Haven't 
you  hammered  it  into  us  for  two  years  that  the 
army  was  the  proper  instrument  for  dealing  with 
these  redskins?  No,  sir,  you  can't  turn  tail  now. 
Take  your  medicine  like  a  man." 

"But  how  did  they  drop  onto  me?  Did  you  sug- 
gest it?" 

The  Colonel  became  grave.  "No,  my  boy,  I  did 
not.  But  I  think  I  know  who  did.  You  remember 
the  two  literary  chaps  who  camped  with  us  on  our 
trial  march  two  years  ago?" 

7 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

The  young  officer's  eyes  opened  wide.  "Ah!  I 
sec.  They  told  me  at  the  time  that  they  were  friends 
of  the  Secretary.  That  explains  it." 

"Your  success  with  that  troop  of  enlisted  Chey- 
ennes  had  something  to  do  with  it,  too,"  added  the 
Colonel.  "I  told  those  literary  sharps  about  that 
experience,  and  also  about  your  crazy  interest  in  the 
sign-language  and  Indian  songs." 

"  You  did?  Well,  then  you  are  responsible,  after 
all." 

The  Colonel  put  his  hand  on  his  subordinate's 
shoulder.  "Go  and  do  the  work,  boy!  It's  better 
than  sitting  around  here  waiting  promotion.  If  I 
weren't  so  near  retirement  I'd  resign.  I  have  lived 
out  on  these  cursed  deserts  ever  since  1868 — but  I'll 
fool  'em,"  he  added,  with  a  grim  smile.  "I'm  going 
to  hang  on  to  the  last,  and  retire  on  half-pay.  Then 
I'll  spend  all  my  time  looking  after  my  health  and 
live  to  be  ninety-five,  in  order  to  get  even." 

Curtis  laughed.  "  Quite  right,  Colonel,"  and,  then 
becoming  serious,  he  added,  "It's  my  duty,  and  I 
will  do  it."  And  in  this  quiet  temper  he  accepted 
his  detail. 

Captain  George  Curtis,  as  the  Colonel  had  intimated, 
was  already  a  marked  man  at  Fort  Sherman — and, 
indeed,  throughout  the  western  division  of  the  army. 
He  feared  no  hardship,  and  acknowledged  no  supe- 
rior on  the  trail  except  Pierce,  who  was  as  invincible 
to  cold  and  snow  as  a  grizzly  bear,  and  his  chief  di- 
versions were  these  trips  into  the  wild.  Each  outing 
helped  him  endure  the  monotony  of  barrack  life,  for 
when  it  was  over  he  returned  to  the  open  fire  of  his 
study,  where  he  pored  over  his  maps,  smoking  his  pipe 

3 


A  CAMP  IN  THE   SNOW 

and  writing  a  little  between  bugle-calls.  In  this  way  ht 
had  been  able  to  put  together  several  articles  on  the 
forests,  the  water-sheds,  and  the  wild  animals  of  the 
region  he  had  traversed,  and  in  this  way  had  made 
himself  known  to  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  He 
was  considered  a  crank  on  trees  and  Indians  by  his 
fellow-officers,  who  all  drank  more  whiskey  and  played 
a  better  hand  at  poker  than  he ;  "  but,  after  all,  Curtis 
is  a  good  soldier/'  they  often  said,  in  conclusion.  "  His 
voice  in  command  is  clear  and  decisive,  and  his  con- 
trol of  his  men  excellent."  He  was  handsome,  too, 
in  a  firm,  brown,  cleanly  outlined  way,  and  though 
not  a  popular  officer,  he  had  no  enemies  in  the  service. 

His  sister  Jennie,  who  had  devotedly  kept  house 
for  him  during  his  garrison  life,  was  waiting  for  him 
at  the  gate  of  his  little  yard,  and  cried  out  in  greeting  : 

"How  did  you  cross  the  range  this  weather?  I 
was  frightened  for  you,  George.  I  could  see  the 
storm  raging  up  there  all  day  yesterday." 

"Oh,  a  little  wind  and  snow  don't  count,"  he  re- 
plied, carelessly.  "  I  thought  you'd  given  up  worry- 
ing about  me." 

"I  have — only  I  thought  of  poor  Sergeant  Pierce 
and  the  horses.  There's  a  stack  of  mail  here.  Do 
you  know  what's  happened  to  you?" 

"The  Colonel  told  me." 

"How  do  you  like  it?" 

"I  don't  know  yet.  At  this  moment  I'm  too  tired 
to  express  an  opinion." 

From  the  pile  of  mail  on  his  desk  he  drew  out 
the  order  which  directed  him  to  "  proceed  at  once  to 
Fort  Smith,  and  as  secretly  as  may  be.  You  will 
surprise  the  agent,  if  possible — intercepting  him  at 

Q 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

his  desk,  so  that  he  will  have  no  opportunity  for  se- 
creting his  private  papers.  You  will  take  entire 
charge  of  the  agency,  and  at  your  earliest  con- 
venience forward  to  us  a  report  covering  every  detail 
of  the  conditions  there." 

"Now  that  promises  well/'  he  said,  as  he  finished 
reading  the  order.  "  We  start  with  a  fair  expectancy 
of  drama.  Sis — we  are  Indian  agents !  All  this  must 
be  given  up."  He  looked  round  the  room,  which 
glowed  in  the  light  of  an  open  grate  fire.  The  floor 
was  bright  with  Navajo  blankets  and  warm  with 
fur  rugs,  and  on  the  walls  his  books  waited  his  hand. 

"I  don't  like  to  leave  our  snug  nest,  Jennie,"  he 
said,  with  a  sigh. 

"You  needn't.  Take  it  with  you/'  she  replied, 
promptly. 

He  glanced  ruefully  at  her.  "  I  knew  I'd  get  mighty 
little  sympathy  from  you/' 

"Why  should  you?  I'm  ready  to  go.  I  don't 
want  you  trailing  about  over  these  mountains  till  the 
end  of  time ;  and  you  know  this  life  is  fatal  to  you, 
or  any  other  man  who  wants  to  do  anything  in  the 
world.  It's  all  very  well  to  talk  about  being  a  soldier, 
but  I'm  not  so  enthusiastic  as  I  used  to  be.  I  don't 
think  sitting  around  waiting  for  some  one  to  die  is 
very  noble/' 

He  rose  and  stood  before  the  fire.  "I  wish  this 
whole  house  could  be  lifted  up  and  set  down  at  Fort 
Smith;  then  I  might  consider  the  matter." 

She  came  over,  and,  as  he  put  his  arm  about  her, 
continued  earnestly:  "George,  I'm  serious  about 
this.  The  President  is  trying  to  put  the  Indian  ser- 
vice into  capable  hands,  and  I  believe  you  ought  to 

10 


A  CAMP  IN  THE   SNOW 

accept ;  in  fact,  you  can't  refuse.  There  is  work  for 
us  both  there.  I  am  heartily  tired  of  garrison  life, 
George.  As  the  boys  say,  there's  nothing  in  it." 

"  But  there's  danger  threatening  at  Smith,  sis.  1 
can't  take  you  into  an  Indian  outbreak." 

"  That's  all  newspaper  talk.     Mr.  Dudley  writes — " 

"Dudley — is  he  down  there?  Oh,  you  are  a  mas- 
terful sly  one!  Your  touching  solicitude  for  the 
Tetongs  is  now  explained.  What  is  Dudley  doing 
at  Smith  besides  interfering  with  my  affairs?" 

"He's  studying  the  Tetong  burial  customs — but 
he  isn't  there  at  present." 

"These  Smithsonian  sharps  are  unexpectedly 
keen.  He'd  sacrifice  me  and  my  whole  military  ca- 
reer to  have  you  study  skulls  with  him  for  a  few  days. 
Do  you  know,  I  suspect  him  and  Osborne  Lawson  of 
this  whole  conspiracy — and  you — you  were  in  it! 
I've  a  mind  to  rebel  and  throw  everything  out  o'  gear." 

Jennie  gave  him  a  shove.  "Go  dress  for  dinner. 
The  Colonel  and  his  wife  and  Mr.  Ross  are  coming 
in  to  congratulate  you,  and  you  must  pretend  to  be 
overjoyed." 

As  he  sat  at  the  head  of  his  handsome  table  that 
night  Curtis  began  to  appreciate  his  comforts.  He 
forgot  the  dissensions  and  jealousies,  the  cynical 
speculations  and  the  bitter  rivalries  of  the  officers — 
he  remembered  only  the  pleasant  things. 

His  guests  were  personable  and  gracious,  and 
Jennie  presided  over  the  coffee  with  distinction.  She 
was  a  natural  hostess,  and  her  part  in  the  conversa- 
tion which  followed  was  notable  for  its  good  sense, 
but  Mr.  Ross,  the  young  lieutenant,  considered  her 
delicate  color  and  shining  hair  even  more  remark- 

II 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

able  than  her  humor.  He  liked  her  voice,  also,  and 
had  a  desire  to  kick  the  shins  of  the  loquacious  Colo- 
nel for  absorbing  so  much  of  her  attention.  Mrs. 
Quinlan,  the  Colonel's  wife,  was,  by  the  same  token, 
a  retiring,  silent  little  woman,  who  smiled  and  nod- 
ded her  head  to  all  that  was  said,  paying  special  at- 
tention to  the  Colonel's  stories,  with  which  all  were 
familiar;  even  Mr.  Ross  had  learned  them. 

At  last  the  Colonel  turned  to  Curtis.  "  You'll  miss 
this,  Curtis,  when  you're  exiled  down  there  at  old 
Fort  Smith  among  the  Tetongs.  Here  we  are  a 
little  oasis  of  civilization  in  the  midst  of  a  desert  of 
barbarians;  down  there  you'll  be  swallowed  up." 

"We'll  take  civilization  with  us,"  said  Jennie. 
"But,  of  course,  we  shall  miss  our  friends." 

"Well,  you'll  have  a  clear  field  for  experiment  at 
Smith.  You  can  try  all  your  pet  theories  on  the 
Tetongs.  God  be  with  them  1 — their  case  is  desperate. " 
He  chuckled  gracelessly. 

"When  do  you  go?"  asked  Mrs.  Quinlan. 

"  At  once.  As  soon  as  I  can  make  arrangements/' 
replied  Curtis,  and  then  added:  "And,  by-the-way, 
I  hope  you  will  all  refrain  from  mentioning  my  ap- 
pointment till  after  I  reach  Fort  Smith." 

The  visitors  did  not  stay  late,  for  their  host  was 
plainly  preoccupied,  and  as  they  shook  hands  with 
him  in  parting  they  openly  commiserated  him.  "  I'm 
sorry  for  you,"  again  remarked  the  Colonel,  "but 
it's  a  just  punishment." 

After  they  were  gone  Curtis  turned  to  his  sister. 
"I  must  leave  here  to-morrow  morning,  sis." 

"Why,  George  1  Can't  you  take  time  to  breathe 
and  pack  up?" 

12 


A  CAMP   IN  THE   SNOW 

"No,  I  must  drop  down  on  that  agent  like  a  hawk 
on  a  June-bug,  before  he  has  a  chance  to  bury  his 
misdeeds.  The  Colonel  has  given  out  the  news  of 
my  detail,  and  the  quicker  I  move  the  better.  I  must 
reach  there  before  the  mail  does." 

"  But  I  want  to  go  with  you/'  she  quickly  and  re- 
sentfully replied. 

"Well,  you  can,  if  you  are  willing  to  leave  our 
packing  in  Pierce's  hands." 

"  I  don't  intend  to  be  left  behind,"  she  replied.  "  I'm 
going  along  to  see  that  you  don't  do  anything  reck- 
less. I  never  trust  a  man  in  a  place  requiring  tact." 

Curtis  laughed.  "That's  your  long  suit,  sis,  but 
I  reckon  we'll  need  all  the  virtues  that  lie  in  each  of 
us.  We  are  going  into  battle  with  strange  forces." 


n 

THE  STREETER  GUN-RACK 

THERE  is  a  good  wagon-road  leading  to  old  Fort 
Smith  from  Pinon  City,  but  it  runs  for  the  most 
part  through  an  uninteresting  country,  and  does  not 
touch  the  reservation  till  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
agency  buildings.  From  the  other  side,  however, 
a  rough  trail  crosses  a  low  divide,  and  for  more  than 
sixty  miles  lies  within  the  Tetong  boundaries,  a  roll- 
ing, cattle  country  rising  to  grassy  hills  on  the  west. 

For  these  reasons  Curtis  determined  to  go  in  on 
horseback  and  in  civilian's  dress,  leaving  his  sister 
to  follow  by  rail  and  buckboard ;  but  here  again  Jen- 
nie promptly  made  protest. 

"  I'll  not  go  that  way,  George.  I  am  going  to  keep 
with  you,  and  you  needn't  plan  for  anything  else — 
so  there!" 

"  It's  a  hard  ride,  sis — sixty  miles  and  more.  You'll 
be  tired  out." 

"What  of  that?  I'll  have  plenty  of  time  to  rest 
afterwards." 

"  Very  well.  It  is  always  a  pleasure  to  have  you 
with  me,  you  stubborn  thing,"  he  replied,  affection- 
ately. 

It  had  been  hard  to  leave  everything  at  the  Fort, 
Uard  to  look  back  from  the  threshold  upon  well-ordered 


THE  STREETER  GUN-RACK 

books  and  furniture,  and  harder  still  to  know  that 
rude  and  careless  hands  would  jostle  them  into  heaps 
on  the  morrow,  but  Jennie  was  accustomed  to  all 
the  hardships  involved  in  being  sister  to  a  soldier, 
and,  after  she  had  turned  the  key  in  the  lock,  set  her 
face  to  the  south  cheerfully.  There  was  something 
of  the  missionary  in  her,  and  she  had  long  burned 
with  a  desire  to  help  the  red  people. 

They  got  off  at  a  squalid  little  cow-town  called 
"Riddell"  about  noon  of  the  second  day,  and  Cur- 
tis, after  a  swift  glance  around  him,  said :  "  Sis,  our 
chances  for  dinner  are  poor/' 

The  hotel,  a  squat,  battlemented  wooden  building, 
was  trimmed  with  loafing  cowboys  on  the  outside 
and  speckled  with  flies  on  the  inside,  but  the  land- 
lord was  unexpectedly  attractive,  a  smiling,  courte- 
ous host,  to  whom  flies  and  cowboys  were  matters 
of  course.  It  was  plain  he  had  slipped  down  to  his 
present  low  level  by  insensible  declinations. 

"The  food  is  not  so  bad  if  it  were  only  served  de- 
cently," said  Jennie,  as  they  sat  at  the  table  eying 
the  heavy  china  chipped  and  maimed  in  the  savage 
process  of  washing. 

"I  hope  you  won't  be  sorry  we've  left  the  army, 
sis/' 

"  I  would,  if  we  had  to  live  with  these  people,"  she 
replied,  decisively,  looking  about  the  room,  which 
was  filled  with  uncouth  types  of  men,  keen-eyed, 
slouchy,  and  loud-voiced.  The  presence  of  a  pretty 
woman  had  subdued  most  of  them  into  something 
like  decorum,  but  they  were  not  pleasant  to  look  at. 
They  were  the  unattached  males  of  the  town,  a  mob 
of  barkeepers,  hostlers,  clerks,  and  railway  hands, 

15 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

intermixed  with  a  half-dozen  cowboys  who  had  rid- 
den in  to  "  loaf  away  a  day  or  two  in  town." 

"  The  ragged  edge  of  the  cloth  of  gold/'  said  Cur- 
tis, as  he  glanced  round  at  them.  "  Civilization  has 
its  seamy  side/' 

"This  makes  the  dear  old  Fort  seem  beautiful, 
doesn't  it?"  the  girl  sighed.  "We'll  see  no  more 
green  grass  and  well-groomed  men." 

An  hour  later,  with  a  half-breed  Indian  boy  for  a 
guide,  they  rode  away  over  the  hills  towards  the 
east,  glad  to  shake  the  dust  of  Riddell  off  their  feet. 

The  day  was  one  of  flooding  sunlight,  warm  and 
golden.  Winter  seemed  far  away,  and  only  the  dry 
grass  made  it  possible  to  say,  "This  is  autumn." 
The  air  was  without  dust  or  moisture — crystalline, 
crisp,  and  deliciously  invigorating. 

The  girl  turned  to  her  brother  with  radiant  face. 
"This  is  living!  Isn't  it  good  to  escape  that  horrid 
little  town?" 

"  You'd  suppose  in  an  air  like  this  all  life  would  be 
clean  and  sweet,"  he  replied.  "But  it  isn't.  The 
trouble  is,  these  people  have  no  inner  resource.  They 
lop  down  when  their  accustomed  props  are  removed. 
They  come  from  defective  stock." 

The  half-breed  guide  had  the  quality  of  his  Indian 
mother  —  he  knew  when  to  keep  silence  and  when 
to  speak.  He  led  the  way  steadily,  galloping  along 
on  his  little  gray  pony,  with  elbows  flapping  like  a 
rooster  about  to  take  flight. 

There  was  a  wonderful  charm  in  this  treeless  land, 
it  was  so  lonely  and  so  sinister.  It  appealed  with 
great  power  to  Curtis,  while  it  appalled  his  sister. 
The  solitary  buttes,  smooth  of  slope  and  grotesque 

16 


THE   STREETER  GUN-RACK 

of  line;  the  splendid,  grassy  hollows,  where  the  cattle 
fed ;  the  burned-up  mesas,  where  nothing  lived  but  the 
horned  toad;  the  alkaline  flats,  leprous  and  ashen; 
the  occasional  green  line  of  cottonwood-trees,  deep 
sunk  in  a  dry  water-course — all  these  were  typical 
of  the  whole  vast  eastern  water-shed  of  the  continental 
divide,  and  familiar  to  the  young  officer,  for  in  such 
a  land  he  had  entered  upon  active  service. 

It  was  beautiful,  but  it  was  an  ill  place  for  a  woman, 
as  Jennie  soon  discovered.  The  air,  so  dry,  so  fierce, 
parched  her  skin  and  pinched  her  red  lips.  The  al- 
kali settled  in  a  gray  dust  upon  her  pretty  hair  and 
entered  her  throat,  increasing  her  thirst  to  a  keen 
pain. 

"Oh,  George!  here  is  a  little  stream/'  she  cried  out. 

"Courage,  sis.  We  will  soon  get  above  the  al- 
kali. That  water  is  rank  poison/' 

"It  looks  good/'  she  replied,  wistfully. 

"We'll  find  some  glorious  water  up  there  in  that 
clump  of  willows,"  and  a  few  minutes'  hard  riding 
brought  them  to  a  gurgling  little  brook  of  clear,  cold 
water,  and  the  girl  not  merely  drank — she  laved  away 
all  traces  of  the  bitter  soil  of  the  lower  levels. 

At  about  four  o'clock  the  guide  struck  into  a  trans- 
verse valley,  and  followed  a  small  stream  to  its  source 
in  a  range  of  pine-clad  hills  which  separate  the  white 
man's  country  from  the  Tetong  reservation.  As 
they  topped  this  divide,  riding  directly  over  a  smooth 
swell,  Curtis  drew  rein,  crying  out,  "  Wait  a  moment, 
Louie." 

They  stood  on  the  edge  of  a  vast  dip  in  the  plain, 
a  bowl  of  amethyst  and  turquoise.  Under  the  vivid 
October  sun  the  tawny  grass  seemed  to  be  transmuted 

17 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

into  something  that  shimmered,  was  translucent, 
and  yet  was  firm,  while  the  opposite  wall,  already 
faintly  in  shadow,  rose  by  two  degrees  to  snow-flecked 
mountains,  faintly  showing  in  the  west  and  north. 
On  the  floor  of  this  resplendent  amphitheatre  a  flock 
of  cattle  fed  irregularly,  luminous  as  red  and  white 
and  deep-purple  beads.  The  landscape  wras  silent — 
as  silent  as  the  cloudless  sky  above.  No  bird  or 
beast,  save  the  cattle,  and  the  horses  the  three  trav- 
ellers rode,  was  abroad  in  this  dream-world. 

"Oh,  isn't  it  beautiful!"  exclaimed  Jennie. 

Curtis  sat  in  silence  till  the  guide  said :  "  We  must 
hurry.  Long  ways  to  Streeter." 

Then  he  drew  a  sigh.  "That  scene  is  typical  of 
the  old  time.  Nothing  could  be  more  moving  to  me. 
I  saw  the  buffaloes  feed  like  that  once.  Whose  are 
the  cattle?"  he  asked  of  the  boy. 

"Thompson's,  I  think." 

"  But  what  are  they  doing  here — that's  Tetong  land, 
isn't  it?" 

The  guide  grinned.  "That  don't  make  no  differ- 
ence to  Thompson.  All  same  to  him  whose  grass 
he  eats." 

"Well,  lead  on,"  said  Curtis,  and  the  boy  galloped 
away  swiftly  down  the  trail.  As  they  descended  to 
the  east  the  sun  seemed  to  slide  down  the  sky  and  the 
chill  dusk  rose  to  me?t  them  from  the  valley  of  the 
Elk,  like  an  exhalation  from  some  region  of  icy  waters. 
Night  was  near,  but  Streeter's  was  in  sight,  a  big  log- 
house,  surrounded  by  sheds  and  corrals  of  various 
sorts  and  sizes. 

"  How  does  Mr.  Streeter  happen  to  be  so  snugly  set- 
tled on  Indian  land?"  asked  Jennie. 

18 


THE  STREETER  GUN-RACK 

"He  made  his  location  before  the  reservation  was 
get  aside.  I  believe  there  are  about  twenty  ranches 
of  the  same  sort  within  the  lines/'  replied  Curtis, 
"  and  I  think  we'll  find  in  these  settlers  the  chief  cause 
of  friction.  The  cattle  business  is  not  one  that  leads 
to  scrupulous  regard  for  the  rights  of  others." 

As  they  clattered  up  to  the  door  of  the  ranch-house 
a  tall  young  fellow  in  cowboy  dress  came  out  to  meet 
them.  He  was  plainly  amazed  to  find  a  pretty  girl 
at  his  door,  and  for  a  moment  fairly  gaped  with  lax 
jaws. 

"Good-evening/'  said  Curtis.  "Are  you  the  boss 
here?" 

He  recovered  himself  quickly.  "Howdy — howdy! 
Yes,  I'm  Cal  Streeter.  Won't  you  'light  off?" 

"Thank  you.  We'd  like  to  take  shelter  for  the 
night  if  you  can  spare  us  room." 

"Why,  cert.  Mother  and  the  old  man  are  away 
just  now,  but  there's  plenty  to  eat."  He  took  a  swift 
stride  towards  Jennie.  "Let  me  help  you  down, 
miss." 

"Thank  you,  I'm  already  down,"  said  Jennie, 
anticipating  his  service. 

The  young  man  called  shrilly,  and  a  Mexican  ap- 
peared at  the  door  of  the  stable.  "Hosy,  come  and 
take  these  horses."  Turning  to  Jennie  with  a  grin, 
he  said :  "  I  can't  answer  for  the  quality  of  the  grub, 
fer  Hosy  is  cooking  just  now.  Mother's  been  gone  a 
week,  and  the  bread  is  wiped  out.  If  you  don't  mind 
slapjacks  I'll  see  what  we  can  do  for  you." 

Jennie  didn't  know  whether  she  liked  this  young 
fellow  or  not.  After  his  first  stare  of  astonishment 
he  was  by  no  means  lacking  in  assurance.  How- 

19 


: 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

ever,  she  was  plains-woman  enough  to  feel  the  ne- 
cessity of  making  the  best  of  any  hospitality  when 
night  was  falling,  and  quickly  replied:  "Don't  take 
any  trouble  for  us.  If  you'll  show  me  your  kitchen 

d  pantry  I'll  be  glad  to  do  the  cooking." 

"Will    you?    Well,   now,  that's    a    sure -enough 

de,"  and  he  led  the  way  into  the  house,  which 
was  a  two-story  building,  with  one-story  wings  on 
either  side.  The  room  into  which  they  entered  was 
large  and  bare  as  a  guard-room.  The  floor  was  un- 
even, the  log  walls  merely  whitewashed,  and  the 
beams  overhead  were  rough  pine  boles.  Some  plain 
wooden  chairs,  a  table  painted  a  pale  blue,  and 
covered  with  dusty  newspapers,  comprised  the  visi- 
ble furniture,  unless  a  gun-rack  which  filled  one 
entire  wall  could  be  listed  among  the  furnishings. 
Curtis  brought  a  keen  gaze  to  bear  on  this  arsenal, 
and  estimated  that  it  contained  nearly  a  score  of  rifles 
— a  sinister  array. 

Young  Streeter  opened  a  side  door.  "This  is 
where  you  are  to  sleep.  Just  make  yourself  to  home, 
and  I'll  rub  two  sticks  together  and  start  a  fire/' 

After  Jennie  left  the  room,  the  young  fellow  turned 
abruptly.  "Stranger,  what  might  I  call  you?" 

"My  name  is  Curtis.  I'm  going  over  to  visit  the 
agency." 

"She  your  wife?"  He  pointed  his  thumb  in  Jen- 
nie's direction. 

"No,  my  sister." 

"Oh!  Well,  then,  you  can  bunk  with  me  in  this 
room."  He  indicated  a  door  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  hall.  "When  she  gets  ready,  bring  her  out  to 
the  kitchen.  It's  hard  lines  to  make  her  cook  her 

20 


THE    STREETER    GUN-RACK 

own   grub,  but  I   tell  you   right  now  I  think  she'd 
'  better." 

As  Jennie  met  her  brother  a  few  moments  later, 
she  exclaimed,  "Isn't  he  handsome?" 

"  M — yes.    He's  good-looking  enough,  but  he's  just 
a  little  self-important,  it  seems  to  me." 

"  Are  you  going  to  let  him  know  who  you  are?" 

"  Certainly  not.  I  want  to  draw  him  out.  I  begin 
to  suspect  that  this  house  is  a  rendezvous  for  all  the 
interests  we  have  to  fight.  These  guns  are  all  loaded 
and  in  prime  order." 

"What  a  big  house  you  have  here/'  said  Jennie, 
ingratiatingly,  as  she  entered  the  kitchen.  "And 
what  a  nice  kitchen." 

"Oh,  purty  fair/'  replied  the  youth,  busy  at  the 
stove.  "  Our  ranch  ain't  what  we'd  make  it  if  these 
Injuns  were  out  o'  the  way.  Now,  here's  the  grub — 
if  you  can  dig  up  anything  you're  welcome." 

He  showed  her  the  pantry,  where  she  found  plenty 
of  bacon  and  flour,  and  some  eggs  and  milk. 

"I  thought  cattlemen  never  had  milk?" 

"Well,  they  don't  generally,  but  mother  makes 
us  milk  a  cow.  Now,  I'll  do  this  cooking  if  you 
want  me  to,  but  I  reckon  you  won't  enjoy  seein'  me 
do  it.  I  can't  make  biscuits,  and  we're  all  out  o' 
bread,  as  I  say,  and  Hosy's  sinkers  would  choke  a 
dog." 

"  Oh,  I'll  cook  if  you'll  get  some  water  and  keep  a 
good  fire  going." 

"Sure  thing,"  he  said,  heartily,  taking  up  the 
water-pail  to  go  to  the  spring.  When  he  came  back 
Jennie  was  dabbling  the  milk  and  flour.  He  stood 
watching  her  in  silence  for  some  minutes  as  she 

21 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

worked,  and  the  sullen  lines  on  his  face  softened  and 
his  lips  grew  boyish. 

"You  sure  know  your  business/'  he  said,  in  a  tone 
of  conviction.  "  When  I  try  to  mix  dough  I  get  all 
strung  up  with  it." 

She  replied  with  a  smile.  "Is  the  oven  hot?  These 
biscuit  must  come  out  just  right." 

He  stirred  up  the  fire.  "  A  man  ain't  fitten  to  cook ; 
he's  too  blame  long  in  the  elbows.  We  have  an  old 
squaw  when  mother  is  home,  but  she  don't  like  me, 
and  so  she  takes  a  vacation  whenever  the  old  lady 
does.  That  throws  us  down  on  Hosy,  and  he  just 
about  poisons  us.  A  Mexican  can't  cook  no  more'n 
an  Injun.  We  get  spring-poor  by  the  time  the  old 
lady  comes  back."  Jennie  was  rolling  at  the  dough 
and  did  not  reply  to  him.  He  held  the  door  open 
for  her  when  she  was  ready  to  put  the  biscuit  in 
the  oven,  and  lit  another  bracket-lamp  in  order  to 
see  her  better. 

"  Do  you  know,  you're  the  first  girl  I  ever  saw  in 
this  kitchen." 

"Ami?" 

"That's  right."  After  a  pause  he  added:  "I'm 
mighty  glad  I  didn't  get  home  to  eat  Hosy's  supper. 
I  want  a  chance  at  some  of  them  biscuit." 

"Slice  this  bacon,  please  —  not  too  thick,"  she 
added,  briskly. 

He  took  the  knife.  "  Where  do  you  hail  from,  any- 
way?" he  asked,  irrelevantly. 

"  From  the  coast,"  she  replied. 

"That  so?     Born  there?" 

"Oh  no.  I  was  born  in  Maryland,  near  Wash- 
ington." 

22 


THE  STREETER  GUN-RACK 

"  There 's  a  place  I'd  like  to  live  if  I  had  money 
enough.  A  feller  can  have  a  continuous  picnic  in 
Washington  if  he's  got  the  dust  to  spare,  so  I  hear." 

"Now  you  set  the  table  while  I  make  the  om- 
elette/' 

"The  how-many?" 

"  The  omelette,  which  must  go  directly  to  the  table 
after  it  is  made." 

He  began  to  pile  dishes  on  the  table,  which  ran 
across  one  end  of  the  room,  but  found  time  to  watch 
her  as  she  broke  the  eggs. 

"  If  a  feller  lives  long  enough  and  keeps  his  mouth 
shut  and  his  eyes  open  he'll  learn  a  powerful  heap, 
won't  he?  I've  seen  that  word  in  the  newspaper  a 
whole  lot,  but  I'll  be  shot  if  I  ever  knew  that  it  was 
jest  aigs." 

Jennie  was  amused,  but  too  hungry  to  spend  much 
time  listening.  "You  may  call  them  in,"  she  said, 
after  a  glance  at  the  biscuit. 

The  young  man  opened  the  door  and  said,  lazily, 
"Cap,  come  to  grub." 

Curtis  was  again  examining  the  guns  in  the  rack, 
"You're  well  heeled." 

"  Haff  to  be,  in  this  country,"  said  the  young  fellow- 
carelessly.  "Set  down  anywhere — that  is,  I  mean 
anywhere  the  cook  says." 

Jennie  didn't  like  his  growing  familiarity,  but  she 
dissembled.  "Sit  here,  George,"  she  said,  indicat- 
ing a  chair  at  the  end.  "  I  will  sit  where  I  can  reach 
the  coffee." 

"Let  me  do  that,"  said  Calvin.  "Louie,  I  guess 
you're  not  in  this  game,"  he  said  to  the  boy  looking 
wistfully  in  at  the  door. 

23 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"  Oh,  let  him  come — he's  as  hungry  as  we  are.  Let 
him  sit  down/'  protested  Jennie. 

Young  Streeter  acquiesced.  "It's  all  the  same 
to  me,  if  you  don't  object  to  a  'breed/'  he  said,  brutally. 
Louie  took  his  seat  in  silence,  but  it  was  plain  he  did 
not  enjoy  the  insolence  of  the  cowboy. 

Curtis  was  after  information.  "You  speak  of 
needing  guns — there  isn't  any  danger,  I  hope?" 

"  Well,  not  right  now,  but  we  expect  to  get  Congress 
to  pass  a  bill  removing  these  brutes,  and  then  there 
may  be  trouble.  Even  now  we  find  it  safer  to  go 
armed.  Every  little  while  some  Injun  kills  a  beef 
for  us,  and  we  want  to  be  prepared  to  skin  'em  if  we 
jump  'em  up  in  time.  I  wouldn't  trust  one  of  'em  as 
far  as  you  could  throw  a  yearling  bull  by  the  tail." 

"Are  they  as  bad  as  that?"  asked  Jennie,  with 
widely  open  eyes. 

"They're  treacherous  hounds.  Old  Elk  goes 
around  smiling,  but  he'd  let  a  knife  into  me  too  quick 
if  he  saw  his  chance.  Harkl"  he  called,  with  lifted 
hand. 

They  all  listened.  The  swift  drumming  of  hoofs 
could  be  heard,  mingled  with  the  chuckle  of  a  car- 
riage. Calvin  rose.  "  That's  the  old  man,  I  reckon," 
and  going  to  the  door  he  raised  a  peculiar  whoop.  A 
voice  replied  faintly,  and  soon  the  buggy  rolled  up 
to  the  door  and  the  new-comer  entered  the  front  room. 
A  quick,  sharp  voice  cried  out : 

"  Whose  hat  is  that?    Who's  here?" 

"A  feller  on  his  way  to  visit  the  agent.  He's  in 
there  eatin*  supper." 

A  rapid,  resolute  step  approached  the  door,  and 
Curtis  looked  up  to  meet  the  keen  eyes  of  a  big, 

24 


THE  STREETER  GUN-RACK 

ruddy -faced  man  of  fifty,  with  hair  and  beard  as 
white  as  wool.  His  eyes  were  steel-blue  and  pene- 
trating as  fire. 

"  Good-evening,  sir.  Good-evening,  madam.  Don't 
rise.  Keep  your  seats.  I'll  just  drop  my  coat  and  sit 
down  with  you." 

He  was  so  distinctly  a  man  of  remarkable  quality 
that  Curtis  stared  at  him  in  deep  surprise.  He  had 
expected  to  see  a  loose-jointed,  slouchy  man  of  middle- 
age,  but  Joseph  Streeter  was  plainly  a  man  of  de- 
cision and  power.  His  white  hair  did  not  betoken 
weakness  or  age,  for  he  moved  like  one  in  the  full 
vigor  of  his  late  manhood.  To  his  visitors  he  ap- 
peared to  be  a  suspicious,  irascible,  and  generous 
man. 

"Hello!"  he  called,  jovially,  "biscuit!  Cal,  you 
didn't  do  these,  nor  Hosy,  neither." 

Cal  grinned.  "  Well,  not  by  a  whole  row  o'  dogs. 
This— lady  did  'em." 

Streeter  turned  his  vivid  blue  eyes  on  Jennie.  "I 
want  to  knowl  Well,  I'm  much  obliged.  When  did 
you  come?"  he  asked  of  Curtis. 

"About  an  hour  ago." 

"Goin'far?" 

"Over  to  the  agency." 

"Friend  of  the  agent?" 

"  No,  but  I  have  a  letter  of  introduction  to  him. " 

Streeter  seemed  to  be  satisfied.  "You'll  find  him 
a  very  accommodating  gentleman." 

"So  I  hear,"  said  Curtis,  and  some  subtle  inflec- 
tion in  his  tone  caused  Streeter  to  turn  towards  him 
again. 

"  What  did  I  understand  your  name  was?" 
25 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"Curtis." 

"Where  from?" 

"San  Francisco/' 

"Oh  yes.  I  think  I  heard  Sennett  speak  of  you. 
Those  biscuit  are  mighty  good.  I'll  take  another. 
Couldn't  persuade  you  to  stay  here,  could  11"  He 
turned  to  Jennie. 

Jennie  laughed.  "I'm  afraid  not — it's  too  lone- 
some." 

Cal  seized  the  chance  to  say:  "It  ain't  so  lone- 
some as  it  looks  now.  We're  a  lively  lot  here 
sometimes." 

Street er  gave  him  a  glance  which  stopped  him. 
"Cal,  you  take  Hosy  and  go  over  to  the  camp  and 
tell  the  boys  to  hustle  in  two  hundred  steers.  I  want 
to  get  'em  passed  on  to-morrow  afternoon,  or  next 
day  sure." 

Calvin's  face  fell.  "I  don't  think  I  need  to  go. 
Hos\^  can  carry  the  orders  just  as  well  as  me,"  he 
said,  boyishly  sullen, 

"I  want  you  to  go!"  was  the  stern  answer,  and  it 
was  plain  that  Streeter  was  commander  even  of  his 
reckless  son. 

As  he  rose  from  the  table,  Calvin  said,  in  a  low 
voice,  to  Jennie,  "  I'll  be  here  to  breakfast  all  right, 
and  I'll  see  that  you  get  over  to  the  agency." 

Streeter  the  elder  upon  reflection  considered  that 
his  guests  had  not  sufficiently  accounted  for  them- 
selves, and,  after  Calvin  left,  again  turned  a  pene- 
trating glance  on  Curtis,  saying,  in  a  peculiar  way, 
"  Where  did  you  say  you  were  from?" 

"San  Francisco,"  replied  Curtis,  promptly,  and 
cut  in  ahead  with  a  question  of  his  own.  "  You  seem 

26 


THE    STREETER    GUN-RACK 

to  be  well  supplied  with  munitions  of  war.  Do  you 
need  all  those  guns  now?" 

"  Need  every  shell.  We're  going  to  oust  these  devils 
pretty  soon,  and  they  know  it,  and  they're  ugly." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  ousting  'em?" 

"We're  pushing  a  bill  to  have  'em  removed." 

"Whereto?" 

"Oh,  to  the  Red  River  reservation,  or  the  Powder 
Valley;  we're  not  particular,  so  that  we  get  rid  of 
'em." 

Jennie  tingled  with  indignation  as  Streeter  out- 
lined the  plans  of  the  settlers  and  told  of  his  friction 
with  the  redmen,  but  Curtis  remained  calm  and 
smiling. 

"You'll  miss  their  market  for  your  beef,  won't 
you?" 

"Oh,  that's  a  small  item  in  comparison  with  the 
extra  range  we'll  get,"  and  thereupon  he  entered 
upon  a  long  statement  of  what  the  government  ought 
to  do. 

Jennie  rose  wearily,  and  the  old  man  was  all  at- 
tention. 

"  I  suppose  you  are  tired  and  would  like  to  go  to 
bed?" 

"We  are  rather  limp,"  confessed  Curtis,  glad  to 
escape  the  searching  cross-examination  which  he 
knew  would  follow  Jennie's  retirement. 

When  they  were  alone  the  two  young  people  looked 
at  each  other  in  silence,  Jennie  with  big,  horrified 
eyes,  Curtis  with  an  amused  comprehension  of  his 
sister's  feeling.  "Isn't  he  a  pirate?  He  doesn't 
know  it,  but  his  state  of  mind  makes  him  indictable 
for  murder  on  the  high  seas." 

27 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"George,  I  don't  like  this.  We  are  going  to  have 
trouble  if  this  old  man  and  his  like  are  not  put  off  this 
reservation/' 

"  Well,  now,  we  won't  put  him  off  to-night,  especial- 
ly as  he  is  a  gallant  host.  But  this  visit  here  has 
put  me  in  touch  with  the  cattlemen.  I  feel  that  I 
know  their  plans  and  their  temper  very  clearly/' 

"George,  I  will  not  sleep  here  in  this  room  alone. 
You  must  make  up  a  cot-bed  or  something.  These 
people  make  me  nervous,  with  their  guns  and  Mexi- 
can servants." 

"  Don't  you  worry,  sis.  I'll  roll  up  in  a  blanket  and 
sleep  across  your  door-sill/'  and  this  he  did,  acknowl- 
edging the  reasonableness  of  her  fears. 


Ill 

CURTIS  ASSUMES  CHARGE  OF  THE  AGENT 

DURING  the  night  Curtis  was  quite  sure  he  heard 
a  party  of  men  ride  up  to  the  door,  but  in  the 
morning  there  remained  no  signs  of  them. 

They  were  early  on  their  feet,  and  Calvin,  true  to 
his  promise,  was  present  to  help  get  breakfast.  He 
had  shaved  some  time  during  the  night,  and  wore 
a  new  shirt  with  a  purple  silk  handkerchief  looped 
about  his  neck,  and  Jennie  found  it  hard  to  be  as  cold 
and  severe  with  him  as  she  had  resolved  upon.  He 
was  only  a  big,  handsome  boy,  after  all. 

"I'm  going  to  send  that  half-breed  back  and  take 
you  over  to  the  fort  myself/'  he  said  to  Curtis. 

"No,  I  can't  have  that/'  Curtis  sharply  replied. 
"  If  you  care  to  ride  with  us  over  to  the  fort  I've  no 
objection,  but  Louie  will  carry  out  his  contract  with 
us."  The  truth  was,  he  did  not  care  to  be  under  any 
further  obligation  to  the  Streeters. 

Breakfast  was  a  hurried  and  rather  silent  meal. 
As  they  rose,  Jennie  said,  apologetically :  "  I  fear  I 
can't  stop  to  do  up  the  dishes.  It  is  a  long,  hard  ride 
to  the  fort." 

"  That's  right/'  replied  Calvin, "  it's  close  on  thirty- 
five  miles.  Never  you  mind  about  the  dishes.  Hosy 
will  swab  'em  out." 

29 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

As  they  were  mounting,  the  elder  Streeter  said, 
hospitably:  "If  you  return  this  way,  Mr.  Curtis, 
make  my  ranch  your  half-way  house."  He  bowed 
to  Jennie.  "  My  wife  will  be  here  then,  miss,  and  you 
will  not  be  obliged  to  cook  your  own  meals." 

"Oh,  I  didn't  mind;  I  rather  enjoyed  it,"  responded 
Jennie. 

Calvin  was  delayed  at  the  start,  and  came  thun- 
dering after  with  a  shrill,  cowboy  yell,  his  horse 
running  close  to  the  ground  with  ears  viciously  laid 
back.  The  boy  made  a  fine  figure  as  he  swept  past 
them  with  the  speed  of  an  eagle.  His  was  the  per- 
fection of  range  horsemanship.  He  talked,  gesticu- 
lated, rolled  cigarettes,  put  his  coat  on  or  off  as  he 
rode,  without  apparent  thought  of  his  horse  or  of  the 
ground  he  crossed. 

He  knew  nothing  but  the  life  of  a  cattleman,  and 
spoke  quite  frankly  of  his  ignorance. 

"  The  old  man  tried  to  send  me  to  school  once.  Pack- 
ed me  off  to  St.  Joe.  I  stayed  a  week.  '  See  here, 
old  man,  don't  do  that  again/ 1  says.  '  I  won't  stand 
for  it/  Hell!  You  might  as  well  tie  up  a  coyote  as 
shut  me  in  a  school-room." 

He  made  a  most  picturesque  guide  as  he  rode  ahead 
of  them,  always  in  view,  completing  a  thousand  typ- 
ical combinations  of  man  and  horse  and  landscape — 
now  suppling  in  his  saddle  to  look  down  and  a  little 
backward  at  some  "sign,"  now  trotting  straight 
towards  a  dark  opening  among  the  pines,  now  wheel- 
ing swiftly  to  mount  a  sudden  ascent  on  the  trail. 
Everything  he  did  was  as  graceful  and  as  self-uncon- 
scious as  the  movements  of  a  panther.  He  was  a 
living  illustration  of  all  the  cowboy  stories  the  girl 

30 


CURTIS  ASSUMES  CHARGE  OP  THE  AGENT 

had  read.  His  horse,  his  saddle,  his  peculiar,  slouch- 
ing seat,  the  roll  of  clothing  behind  his  saddle,  his 
spurs,  his  long-heeled  boots — every  detail  was  as  it 
should  be,  and  Jennie  was  glad  of  him,  and  of  Louis, 
too. 

"Yes,  it's  all  here,  Jennie/'  replied  Curtis— "the 
wild  country,  the  Indian,  the  gallant  scout,  and  the 
tender  maiden/' 

"I'm  having  a  beautiful  ride.  Since  we  left  the 
wagon-road  it  really  seems  like  the  primitive  wilder- 
ness." 

"  It  is.  This  little  wedge  of  land  is  all  these  brave 
people  have  saved  from  the  flood.  They  made  their 
last  stand  here.  The  reflux  from  the  coast  caught 
them  here,  and  here  they  are,  waiting  extinction." 

The  girl's  eyes  widened.     "  It's  tragic,  isn't  it?" 

"  Yes,  but  so  is  all  life,  except  to  Calvin  Streeter, 
and  even  he  wants  what  he  can't  get.  He  told  me 
this  morning  he  wanted  to  go  to  Chicago  and  take  a 
fall  out  of  a  judge  who  fined  him  for  carrying  a  gun. 
So  even  he  has  his  unsatisfied  ambition.  As  he  told 
me  about  it  he  snarled  like  a  young  tiger." 

At  about  one  o'clock,  Calvin,  who  was  riding 
ahead,  halted  on  the  crest  of  a  timbered  ridge  and 
raised  a  shout. 

"He's  topped  the  divide!"  called  Curtis  to  Jennie, 
who  was  riding  behind.  "We'll  soon  be  in." 

"I'm  glad  of  it.     I'm  tired." 

When  they  reached  the  spot  where  Calvin  waited 
they  could  look  down  into  the  main  valley  of  the  Elk, 
and  the  agency,  a  singular  village  of  ancient  barracks, 
sheds,  corrals,  and  red  -  roofed  storehouses  was  al- 
most beneath  them.  All  about  on  the  low  hills  the 

31 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

criss-crossing  trails  gave  evidence  that  the  Tetongs 
were  still  a  nation  of  horsemen.  Theirs  was  a  bar- 
ren land,  a  land  of  pine-clad,  precipitous  hills  and 
deep  valleys,  which  opened  to  the  east — a  region  of 
scant  rains  and  thin,  discouraged  streams. 

The  sight  of  the  officers'  whitewashed  quarters  and 
the  parade-ground  brought  a  certain  sadness  to  Curtis. 

"The  old  garrison  don't  look  as  it  did  when  I  was 
here  in  188-,"  he  said,  musingly.  "Army  days  in 
the  West  are  almost  gone.  The  Indian  war  is  over. 
What  a  waste  of  human  life  it  was  on  both  sides! 
Yes,  Louie,  go  ahead." 

As  they  alternately  slid  and  trotted  down  the  trail, 
native  horsemen  could  be  seen  coming  and  going, 
their  gay  blankets  sparkling  in  the  clear  air.  Others 
on  foot  were  clustered  about  the  central  building, 
where  the  flag  hung  droopingly  on  a  tall  staff.  As 
they  passed  the  corral,  groups  of  young  Tetongs 
smiled  and  nudged  each  other,  but  offered  no  greet- 
ing. Neither  did  the  older  men,  though  their  keen 
eyes  absorbed  every  detail  of  the  stranger's  dress 
and  bearing.  It  was  plain  that  they  held  every  white 
man  in  suspicion,  especially  if  he  came  attended  by 
a  cowboy. 

Calvin  was  elaborately  free  and  easy  with  them 
all,  eager  to  show  his  wide  acquaintanceship.  "  Hello, 
Two  Horns;  hello,  Hawk/'  he  called  to  a  couple  of 
fine-looking  men  of  middle  age.  They  did  not  re- 
ply. "Hello,  Gray  Wolf,  you  old  sardine;  want  to 
try  another  horse-race?" 

Gray  Wolf,  evidently  something  of  a  wag,  smiling- 
ly replied :  "  You  bet.  Got  new  pony — heap  fast." 

Calvin  wheeled  and  spurred  into  the  bunch  of  young 
32 


CURTIS  ASSUMES  CHARGE  OF  THE  AGENT 

fellows,  who  scattered  with  shouts  of  laughter,  while 
the  Captain  and  Jennie  followed  Louie,  their  guide, 
to  the  agency  gate. 

They  were  met  at  the  fence  before  the  office  by  two 
men,  one  a  middle-aged  man,  with  a  dirty-gray  beard 
and  fat,  bloated  cheeks,  who  said,  blandly:  " Good- 
morning,  sir.  Good-morning,  miss;  nice  day." 

Curtis  dismounted.     "Are  you  Mr.  Sennett?" 

"  I  am — what  can  I  do  for  you?"  He  turned  to  his 
companion,  a  tall  young  man,  with  innocent  gray 
eyes  and  a  loose,  weak  mouth :  "  This  is  my  son 
Clarence.  Clarence,  take  the  lady's  horse." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  the  Captain,  as  he  stepped  in- 
side the  gate.  "  I  am  Captain  Curtis,  of  the  cavalry, 
detailed  to  take  charge  of  this  agency.  You  have 
just  left  the  office — have  you  the  keys  in  your  pocket? 
If  so,  please  surrender  them  to  me.  It  is  an  unpleas- 
ant duty,  but  I  am  ordered  to  assume  absolute  con- 
trol at  once." 

The  man's  red  skin  faded  to  a  yellow-gray — the 
color  of  his  beard.  For  a  moment  he  seemed  about 
to  fall,  then  the  blood  came  surging  back ;  his  cheeks 
grew  purple  with  its  weight. 

"  I'll  be  damned  if  I  submit.     It  is  an  outrage!" 

"You  can't  afford  to  make  any  trouble.  I  am 
sorry  to  do  this,  but  I  am  under  orders  of  the  depart- 
ment to  take  you  unawares,  and  on  no  account  to  let 
you  return  to  your  office." 

Sennett  began  to  bluster.     "  Show  me  your  author- 

ay." 

"My  authority  is  in  this  paper."    He  drew  the 
order  from  his  pocket.     "  If  you  think  a  moment  you 
see  that  instant  acquiescence  is  best." 
»  33 


THE  CAPTAIN  OP  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

While  Sennett  stormed,  the  two  chiefs,  Elk  and 
Two  Horns,  drew  near,  and  lifting  his  hand,  Curtis, 
using  the  sign  language  swiftly,  said  to  them: 

"I  am  your  new  agent.  The  Great  Father  has 
heard  that  the  old  agent  is  bad.  I  am  here  to  straight- 
en matters  out.  I  am  Swift  Eagle  —  don't  you  re- 
member? I  came  with  Bear  Robe.  I  was  only 
second  lieutenant  then." 

The  faces  of  the  old  chiefs  lit  up  with  pleasure. 
"  Ay,  we  remember !  We  shake  your  hands.  We 
are  glad  you  have  come." 

Curtis  then  asked:  "Who  is  your  interpreter — one 
you  can  trust,  one  who  can  read  this  paper." 

The  two  men  looked  at  each  other  for  a  moment. 
Elk  said,  "Joe?" 

Two  Horns  shook  his  head;  then,  catching  sight 
of  a  man  who  was  regarding  the  scene  from  a  door- 
way not  very  distant,  he  said,  in  English:  "Him — 
Nawson.  Hay,  my  friend,"  he  called,  "come  here!" 

This  observer  at  once  responded  to  Two  Horns1 
sign.  As  he  came  up  the  chief  said:  "My  friend, 
here  is  a  paper  from  Washington;  read  it  for  us." 

Curtis  said :  "  I  am  Captain  Curtis,  of  the  cavalry, 
detailed  to  act  as  agent  here.  This  is  my  commis- 


sion." 


The  stranger  extended  his  hand.  "I'm  glad  to 
meet  you,  Captain  Curtis,  very  glad,  indeed."  As 
they  shook  hands  he  added :  "  I've  read  your  articles 
on  the  sign  language,  et  cetera,  with  great  pleasure. 
My  name  is  Lawson." 

Curtis  smiled.  "Are  you  Osborne  Lawson?  I'm 
mighty  glad  to  meet  you.  This  is  my  sister,  Mr. 
Lawson." 

34 


CURTIS  ASSUMES  CHARGE  OF  THE  AGENT 

Mr.  Lawson  greeted  Jennie  with  grace,  and  she 
liked  him  at  once.  His  manner  was  direct  and  his 
voice  pleasing.  He  was  tall,  lean,  and  a  little  stoop- 
ing, but  strong  and  brown.  "Now,  Captain,  what 
can  I  do  for  you?"  he  asked,  turning  briskly. 

"I  want  you  to  read  this  paper  to  the  chiefs  here, 
and  then  I  intend  to  put  a  guard  on  the  door.  Mr. 
Sennett  is  not  to  be  permitted  to  re-enter  his  office. 
These  are  harsh  measures,  but  I  am  not  responsible 
for  them." 

Lawson  looked  thoughtful.  "I  see."  After  read- 
ing the  paper  he  said  to  the  chiefs:  "It  is  as  this 
man  has  said.  The  Great  Father  has  sent  him  here 
to  take  charge  of  the  office.  The  old  agent  is  cut  off 
— he  is  not  allowed  to  go  back  to  his  office  for  fear  he 
may  hide  something.  Have  Crow  put  a  guard  on 
the  door.  The  new  agent  will  try  to  find  out  why  you 
have  not  received  your  rations.  This  is  the  secret 
of  this  paper,  and  here  is  the  signature  of  the  Secre- 
tary. This  is  a  true  thing,  and  you  must  now  obey 
Captain  Curtis.  I  know  him,"  he  said,  looking  round 
him.  "  He  is  my  friend ;  you  can  trust  him.  That  is 
all." 

"Good!  Goodl"  said  the  chiefs.  "We  under- 
stand." 

A  short,  dark  Tetong  in  a  frayed  captain's  uniform 
came  up.  "  I  am  chief  of  the  police,"  he  signed. 
"What  shall  I  do?" 

"  Guard  the  door  of  the  office  and  of  the  issue  house. 
Let  no  one  but  those  I  bring  enter.  Will  you  do  as  I 
say?"  he  asked. 

"  Ay  I"  replied  the  officer,  whose  name  was  Crow. 

"  Then  all  is  said  ;  go  guard  the  door." 
35 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

Sennett  and  his  son  had  withdrawn  a  little  front 
the  scene  and  were  talking  in  low  voices.  They  had 
placed  themselves  in  the  worst  possible  light,  and  they 
felt  it.  As  Curtis  reached  this  point  in  his  orders, 
Sennett  started  to  cross  the  road. 

"  Wait  a  moment,  gentlemen,"  called  Curtis.  "My 
orders  are  very  strict.  I  must  precede  you.  There 
is  a  certain  desk  in  your  library,  Mr.  Sennett,  which 
I  must  search/' 

Sennett  flamed  out  into  wild  oaths.  "You  shall 
not  search  my  private  papers." 

"Silence!"  called  Curtis.  "Another  oath  and  I'll 
put  you  in  the  guard-house." 

"  Do  you  suppose  I'm  going  to  submit  to  this  with- 
out protest?  You  treat  me  like  a  criminal." 

"So  far  as  my  orders  go,  that's  what  you  are/' 
said  Curtis.  "  I  give  you  the  benefit  of  the  doubt  so 
long  as  you  act  the  gentleman,  but  you  must  respect 
the  presence  of  my  sister,  or  I'll  gag  you."  After  a 
pause  he  added,  in  a  gentler  tone :  "  I  don't  pretend 
to  judge  your  case.  I  am  merely  obeying  the  orders 
of  the  department." 

"I  have  powerful  friends  in  Washington.  You 
will  regret  this,"  snarled  Sennett.  But  his  son  was 
like  one  smitten  dumb;  his  breathing  was  troubled, 
and  his  big,  gray  eyes  were  childish  in  their  wide 
appeal. 

Lawson  then  spoke.  "  Can  I  do  anything  further, 
Captain?  Command  me  freely." 

"  No,  I  think  not,  except  to  see  that  my  horses  are 
taken  care  of  and  my  guide  fed.  I  suppose  there  is 
a  mess  or  boarding-house  where  my  sister  can  get 
something  to  eat." 

36 


CURTIS  ASSUMES  CHARGE  OF  THE  AGENT 

"Won't  you  come  to  dinner  with  me?"  asked  Law- 
son.  "Mrs.  Wilcox,  some  artist  friends,  and  I  are 
messing  over  in  one  of  the  old  quarters,  and  our  mid- 
day dinner  is  waiting." 

Curtis  smiled  grimly.  "  Thank  you,  I  am  on  duty. 
I  must  dine  with  Mr.  Sennett.  Jennie  will  accept 
your  invitation  thankfully." 

As  Curtis  walked  over  to  the  agency  house  with 
Sennett  and  his  son,  Jennie  looked  anxious.  "  They 
may  do  something  to  him." 

Lawson  smiled.  "Oh  no,  they  won't.  They  are 
quite  cowed,  but  I'll  suggest  a  guard."  He  turned 
to  Two  Horns  and  said,  in  Dakota :  "  Father,  the  old 
agent  is  angry.  The  new  agent  is  a  brave  man,  but 
he  is  only  one  against  two." 

"I  understand,"  said  the  old  man,  with  a  smile, 
and  a  few  minutes  later  a  couple  of  policemen  were 
sitting  on  the  door-step  of  the  agent's  house.  It  was 
a  sunny  place  to  sit,  and  they  enjoyed  being  there 
very  much.  One  of  them  understood  English,  and 
the  other  was  well  able  to  tell  an  angry  word  when 
he  heard  it  spoken. 

The  drowsy  hush  of  mid-day  again  settled  down 
upon  the  little  cluster  of  buildings — news,  even  when 
it  passes  swiftly  among  red  people,  makes  no  noise. 
It  walks  with  velvet  foot,  it  speaks  in  a  murmur; 
it  hastens,  but  conceals  its  haste. 


IV 

THE  BEAUTIFUL  ELSIE  BEE  BEE 

A3  Jennie  entered  the  mess -house  she  uttered  a 
little  cry  of  amazement.  Outwardly,  it  was  a 
rude  barrack  of  whitewashed  cotton  wood  logs,  but 
its  interior  glowed  with  color  and  light.  Bright  rugs 
were  on  the  floor,  and  a  big  divan  in  one  corner  dis- 
played a  monstrous  black  bear -skin.  A  capacious 
fireplace,  which  dated  back  to  the  first  invasion  of 
the  arrny,  filled  one  end  of  the  hall,  which  had  been 
enlarged  by  the  removal  of  a  partition.  Oil-paint- 
ings, without  frames,  were  tacked  against  the  walls, 
and  the  odor  of  fresh  pigments  lingered  in  the  air. 

"This  is  our  general  meeting -place/'  explained 
Lawson. 

"It  smells  like  a  studio/'  Jennie  replied,  after  a 
glance  around  her. 

A  plain,  quiet  little  woman,  with  a  look  of  inquiry 
on  her  face,  appeared  at  the  dining-room  door,  and 
Lawson  called  out : 

"Mrs.  Wilcox,  this  is  Miss  Curtis,  who  will  stay 
with  us  for  a  few  days/'  As  they  greeted  each  other 
he  added :  "  There  is  a  story  to  tell,  but  we  are  late, 
and  it  can  wait.  Where  is  Elsie?" 

"  Still  at  work.  She  never  would  come  to  her  meals 
if  we  didn't  call  her/' 


THE  BEAUTIFUL  ELSIE  BEE  BEE 

"I'm  disposed  to  try  it  some  day.  Will  you  take 
charge  of  Miss  Curtis  while  I  go  fetch  the  delin- 
quent?" 

Under  Mrs.  Wilcox's  direction  Jennie  prepared 
for  luncheon  in  an  adjoining  room,  wondering  still 
at  the  unexpected  refinement  of  the  furnishings,  and 
curious  to  see  the  artist. 

As  she  re-entered  the  sitting-room  a  tall  girl  rose 
languidly  to  meet  her,  and  Lawson  said :  "  Miss 
Curtis,  this  is  Miss  Brisbane,  the  painter  of  the  pict- 
ures you  see  about." 

Miss  Brisbane  bowed  in  silence,  while  Jennie  cried 
out:  "Oh!  did  you  do  them?  I  think  they  are  beau- 
tiful!" 

The  sincerity  of  her  voice  touched  the  young  ar- 
tist, and  she  said:  "I'm  glad  you  like  them — some- 
times I  think  they're  pretty  '  bum. ' ' 

A  slang  word  on  the  red  lips  of  the  handsome  girl 
seemed  wofully  out  of  place  to  Jennie,  who  stared  at 
her  with  the  eager  curiosity  of  a  child.  She  was  slen- 
der and  dark,  with  an  exquisite  chin,  and  her  hands, 
though  slim  and  white,  were  strong  and  capable. 
Her  eyes  were  very  dark,  of  a  velvety  brown-black, 
and  her  hair  was  abundant  and  negligently  piled 
upon  her  small  head.  Altogether  she  had  a  stately 
and  rather  foreign  presence,  which  made  Jennie  feel 
very  dowdy  and  very  commonplace. 

Mrs.  Wilcox  hurried  them  all  out  into  the  dining- 
room,  where  a  pretty  table  was  spread  for  six  people. 
Jennie's  attention  was  absorbed  by  the  walls,  which 
were  also  lightened  with  sketches  of  small,  red  babies 
in  gay  cradles,  and  of  glowing  bits  of  tawny  plain 
and  purple  butte. 

39 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"Did  you  do  all  of  these  beautiful  things?"  she 
asked. 

Lawson  interposed.  "She  did,  Miss  Curtis.  Be 
not  deceived.  Miss  Brisbane's  languid  manner 
springs  from  her  theory  of  rest.  When  work  is  fin- 
ished she  'devitalizes'  —  I  think  that  is  the  word  — 
and  becomes  a  rag.  But  she's  a  horrible  example 
of  industry,  spineless  as  she  now  appears." 

Miss  Brisbane  remained  quite  unmoved  by  Law- 
son's  words ;  smiling  dreamily,  her  red  lips,  as  serene 
as  those  of  a  child,  softly  shaped  themselves  to  say : 
"The  strung  bow  needs  relaxation." 

"  I  think  you  are  right/'  said  Jennie,  with  sudden 
conviction. 

Elsie  opened  her  eyes  wide  and  murmured,  "  Thank 
you." 

Jennie  went  on:  "Now  my  trouble  is  just  that. 
I'm  always  nerved  up.  I  can't  relax.  Won't  you 
teach  me  how?" 

"  With  pleasure.  Are  you  going  to  live  here?" 
asked  Elsie,  with  faint  accession  of  interest. 

"As  long  as  my  brother  does." 

"I  suppose  you've  come  to  teach  these  ragamuf- 
fins?" 

Lawson  here  answered  for  Jennie.  "Miss  Curtis 
is  a  sister  to  Captain  Curtis,  who  has  come  to  dis- 
place your  uncle." 

Miss  Brisbane  looked  up  blankly.  "I  don't  un- 
derstand." 

Lawson  became  explicit,  and  as  she  listened  the 
girl's  hands  clinched. 

"How  abominable!"  she  cried,  with  eyes  aflame. 

"  Not  at  all.  If  Mr.  Sennett  is  an  honest  employ^ 
40 


THE  BEAUTIFUL  ELSIE  BEE  BEE 

of  the  government,  he  should  be  willing  to  be  searched 
—if  he  isn't,  then  no  measure  is  too  harsh.  He'll 
get  a  thorough  raking  over,  if  my  impression  of  the 
new  agent  is  correct." 

"  My  father  would  not  put  a  dishonest  man  in  this 
place/'  insisted  Elsie,  "and  I  don't  believe  Uncle 
Sennett  has  done  wrong." 

"Well,  now,  we'll  suspend  judgment/'  retorted 
Lawson,  who  knew  just  when  to  change  his  tone. 
"Captain  Curtis  is  an  officer  of  known  ability,  and 
no  one  can  accuse  him  of  prejudice.  His  living 
doesn't  depend  upon  pleasing  either  Mr.  Sennett  ol 
your  father.  Undoubtedly  the  government  has  good 
reasons  for  sending  him  here,  and  I  for  one  am  will- 
ing to  accept  his  judgment." 

Elsie  rose  in  swift  resolution.  "  I  say  it  is  an  out- 
rage I  I  am  going  to  see  that  Uncle  Sennett  is  not 
persecuted/' 

Lawson  laid  his  hand  on  her  arm  and  his  voice 
was  sternly  quiet.  "  I  think  you  would  better  finish 
your  tea.  Whatever  protest  you  feel  called  upon  to 
make  can  be  made  later.  If  you  like,"  he  added,  in 
a  gentler  voice,  "I  will  represent  you  in  the  matter 
and  go  with  you  to  see  Captain  Curtis  during  the 
afternoon.  I  don't  think  we  should  trouble  him  now." 

Elsie  resumed  her  seat  without  either  accepting  or 
rejecting  his  offer,  and  the  meal  continued  in  some 
constraint,  although  Lawson  summoned  his  best 
humor  to  cover  Elsie's  passionate  outburst. 

A  few  minutes  later  Elsie  sullenly  retired  to  her 
studio,  and  Lawson  said :  "  I  am  going  out  to  see  what 
is  going  on,  Miss  Curtis;  please  make  yourself  at 
home  here." 

41 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

When  the  door  closed  behind  him  Jennie  turned  to 
Mrs.  Wilcox.  "  Why  does  Mr.  Lawson  use  that  tone 
with  Miss  Brisbane — are  they  engaged?'* 

Mrs.  Wilcox  laughed.  "That's  just  what  none 
of  us  knows.  Sometimes  I  think  they  are  husband 
and  wife — he  lectures  her  so/' 

When  Curtis  joined  the  mess  in  the  evening  he 
was  weary  and  a  little  sombre.  Vastly  preoccupied 
with  his  difficult  task  at  the  office,  he  had  given  but 
little  attention  to  Jennie's  announcement  of  having 
been  taken  into  the  bosom  of  an  artistic  family  mess- 
ing at  the  barracks,  and  when  Elsie  met  him  in  a 
regal  gown,  glittering  and  changeful,  he  pulled  him- 
self up  in  surprise  and  admiration. 

Elsie,  on  her  part,  was  eager  to  see  him  and  ready 
to  do  battle,  but  as  he  faced  her,  abrupt,  vigorous 
of  movement,  keen-eyed  and  composed — almost  stern 
of  countenance — she  was  a  little  daunted.  He  was 
handsomer  than  she  had  expected,  and  older.  His 
head  was  impressive,  his  frame  muscular,  and  his 
movements  graceful.  Plainly  he  was  a  man  of  power, 
one  it  would  be  politic  to  treat  with  respect. 

As  they  took  up  their  napkins  at  the  table  Lawson 
opened  out:  "Well,  Captain,  we  don't  want  to  seem 
inquisitive,  but  we  are  dying  to  know  what  you've 
been  doing  this  afternoon.  We  feel  on  the  outside 
of  it  all." 

"Yes,"  Elsie  quickly  added,  "we  want  to  know 
whether  there  is  to  be  a  revolution,  or  only  a 
riot." 

Curtis  turned  to  her  smilingly  and  replied :  "  You'll 
all  be  disappointed.  I've  been  looking  over  accounts 

42 


THE  BEAUTIFUL  ELSIE  BEE  BEE 

and  holding  humdrum  audience  with  my  clerks  —  a 
very  busy  but  very  quiet  afternoon — nothing  doing, 
as  the  phrase  goes." 

"  Where  is  Uncle  Sennett?"  inquired  Elsie.  "  I  tried 
to  find  him,  but  your  men  would  not  let  me  into  the 
office." 

"You  shouldn't  have  tried/'  interjected  Lawson. 

"Is  he  your  uncle?"  asked  Curtis. 

"He's  my  father's  sister's  husband  —  but  that 
doesn't  matter;  I'd  defend  him  if  he  were  a  stranger. 
I  think  he  has  been  shamefully  treated.  The  idea  of 
searching  his  private  desk!" 

Curtis  looked  at  her  keenly.  "I  am  under  orders/' 
he  said.  "  Mr.  Sennett  is  nothing  to  me,  one  way  or 
the  other.  The  question  for  answer  is — has  he  abused 
his  office?" 

"  He  has  not !"  exclaimed  Elsie.  "  I  knoiu  he  has  not. 
He  is  not  a  man  to  cheat  and  steal ;  he  is  not  a  strong 
man,  but  he  is  kind  and  generous." 

"  Too  kind  and  too  generous/'  muttered  Law- 
son. 

"I'm  sorry  to  say  that  the  records  are  against  him/' 
replied  Curtis,  "and  his  action  is  against  him.  He 
and  his  son  have  gone  to  Pinon  City — riding  very 
like  fugitives.  I  had  no  orders  to  hold  them ;  indeed, 
I  was  glad  to  let  them  go." 

Elsie  bit  her  lips.  "He  has  gone  to  get  aid,"  she 
said  at  last,  "  and  when  he  comes  back  you  will  take 
a  different  tone  with  him." 

Curtis  laughed.  "I  believe  he  did  say  he'd  have 
my  hide,  or  something  like  that." 

Lawson  put  in  a  word.  "He'll  do  it,  too,  if  the 
cattle  interest  can  influence  the  Secretary.  Don't 

43 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

tell  us  any  more  than  is  proper,  Captain,  but — how 
do  you  find  his  accounts?" 

"In  very  bad  shape.  The  chiefs  say  he  has  been 
holding  back  rations  and  turning  in  bad  beef  for 
some  time." 

"You'd  take  the  word  of  a  nasty  Indian  against 
my  uncle,  or  any  white  man,  I  can  see  that,"  said 
Elsie,  in  withering  scorn. 

Curtis  turned  upon  her  a  most  searching  glance. 
"Miss  Brisbane,  I  don't  understand  your  attitude 
towards  me.  As  a  soldier  on  special  duty,  detailed 
almost  against  my  will,  I  have  no  prejudice  in  this 
affair.  It  is  my  duty  to  see  that  the  treaties  of  the 
government  are  carried  out.  You  seem  to  think  I 
am  started  on  a  line  of  persecution  of  your  uncle — " 
he  checked  himself.  "I  beg  you  will  not  pursue  the 
subject  any  further."  He  turned  to  Lawson  with  an 
effort  to  put  aside  unpleasant  conversation.  "  Please 
don't  ask  me  disagreeable  questions  when  I  am  curi- 
ous to  know  the  meaning  of  this  artistic  invasion 
of  my  territory.  Who  is  responsible  for  these  pict- 
ures?" 

Lawson  hastened  to  explain.  "This  plague  of  ar- 
tists is  due  to  me  entirely,  Captain  Curtis.  I  am 
doing  some  studies  of  the  Tetongs,  and  Miss  Bris- 
bane came  out  to  make  some  illustrations  for  me. 
'  In  fact,  she  suggested  coining  here  rather  than  to  the 
upper  agencies,  because  of  her  uncle's  presence.  Our 
coming  brought  others." 

"  I  am  very  glad  you  came/'  said  Curtis,  heartily, 
"and  I  will  do  all  in  my  power  to  further  your  work. 
Please  do  not  allow  my  coming  to  change  your  plans 
in  the  slightest  degree." 

44 


THE  BEAUTIFUL  ELSIE  BEE  BEE 

Lawson  continued :  "  Intending  to  stay  some 
months,  we  concluded  to  set  up  a  mess  and  be  com- 
fortable— and  permit  me  to  say,  we  hope  you'll  eat 
with  us  until  your  own  goods  arrive/' 

"Thank  you;  I  accept  with  pleasure,  for  I  don't 
enjoy  camping  in  the  tent  of  my  angry  predecessor 
— this  company  is  more  to  my  mind." 

Elsie's  red  lips  were  tremulous  with  indignation. 
"  You  can't  blame  Mr.  Sennett  for  being  angry.  You 
would  be  if  treated  in  the  same  way.  There  is  no 
justice  in  it.  I  would  never  have  surrendered  those 
keys  to  you." 

Curtis  patiently  repeated,  "  My  orders  were  peremp- 
tory." 

"You  can't  take  shelter  behind  that  plea.  Your 
acts  are  atrocious,  and  I  shall  write  to  my  father  in 
Washington  and  have  you  investigated."  She  was 
beautiful  as  flame  in  the  glow  of  her  wrath. 

Curtis  seemed  struck  with  a  new  idea.  "Are  you 
the  daughter  of  ex-Senator  Brisbane?" 

She  braced  herself.  "Well,  suppose  I  am?'' 

"Oh,  nothing  at  all — only  it  explains." 

"What  does  it  explain?" 

"  Your  attitude.  It  is  quite  natural  for  a  daughter 
of  Andrew  Brisbane  to  take  sides  against  these  peo- 
ple." He  was  not  in  a  mood  to  be  gallant,  and  his 
glance  quelled  the  angry  girl. 

With  flushed  face  and  quivering  lips  she  sprang 
to  her  feet.  "I  will  not  stay  to  be  insulted,"  she 
said. 

Curtis  rose  as  she  swept  from  the  room,  but  checked 
his  instinctive  words  of  apology  and  returned  to  his 
seat  in  silence. 

45 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

Mrs.  Wilcox  relieved  the  painful  pause  by  saying, 
"  Captain  Curtis,  you  must  not  misjudge  Elsie.  She 
is  a  much  better  girl  than  she  seems/' 

Lawson  was  troubled  as  he  said,  "She  has  lashed 
herself  into  a  great  rage  over  this  affair,  but  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact  she  don't  care  a  hang  for  Sennett." 

"I  can't  apologize  for  doing  my  duty/'  said  Curtis, 
"even  to  Miss  Brisbane." 

"Certainly  not/'  replied  Lawson,  though  he  was 
deeply  hurt  by  Elsie's  display  of  unreason. 

As  soon  as  he  decently  could,  he  followed  her  to 
her  studio,  where  he  found  her  lying  in  sullen  dejec- 
tion on  the  big  divan.  "Bee  Bee,  you  are  missing 
a  good  dinner,"  he  began,  gently. 

She  was  instantly  ready  to  fight.  "I  suppose  you 
blame  me  for  this  scene." 

"  I  think  you  are  hasty,  and  a  little  unreasonable. 
I  know  Curtis  by  reputation,  and  he  is  above  any 
petty  malice." 

"You  are  taking  his  side  against  me!" 

"Not  at  all,  Bee  Bee,  I  am  merely  trying  to  show 
you—" 

"  He  looked  at  me  as  no  man  ever  dared  to  look  be- 
fore, and  I  hate  him.  He  thinks  because  he  has  a 
little  authority  he  can  lord  it  over  us  all  here.  I  shall 
write  to  father  at  once,  telling  him  just  how  this  little 
prig  of  a  lieutenant — " 

"  Captain,"  interrupted  Lawson — "for  distinguished 
service." 

His  smile  made  her  furious.  She  flung  herself 
back  on  the  divan.  "Go  away.  I  hate  you,  too." 

Lawson,  at  the  end  of  his  patience,  went  out  and 
closed  the  door  behind  him.  "What  is  the  matter 


THE  BEAUTIFUL  ELSIE  BEE  BEE 

with  the  girl?"  he  said  to  Mrs.  Wilcox.  "I've  seen 
her  in  temper,  but  never  like  this.  She  has  taken 
the  most  violent  antagonism  to  Curtis." 

"  She'd  better  let  that  young  man  alone/'  replied 
Mrs.  Wilcox,  sagely.     "He  has  a  very  firm  mouth." 


CAGED  EAGLES 

*  I  ^HE  word  had  gone  out  among  all  the  red  people 
JL  that  the  old  agent  was  entirely  "cut  off/'  and 
that  a  soldier  and  a  sign-talker  had  come  to  take  his 
place,  and  so  each  little  camp  loaded  its  tepees  on 
wagons  or  lashed  them  to  the  ponies  and  came  flock- 
ing in  to  sit  down  before  the  Little  Father  and  he  in- 
spired of  him. 

The  young  men  came  first,  whirling  in  on  swift 
ponies,  looking  at  a  distance  like  bands  of  cowboys 
— for,  though  they  hated  the  cattlemen,  they  formed 
themselves  on  Calvin  Streeter  as  a  model.  Each  wore 
a  wide,  white  hat  and  dark  trousers,  and  carried  a  gay 
kerchief  slung  round  his  neck.  All  still  wore  moc- 
casins of  buckskin,  beautifully  beaded  and  fringed, 
and  their  braided  hair  hung  low  on  their  breasts. 

The  old  men,  who  jogged  in  later  in  the  day,  still 
carried  blankets,  though  they,  too,  had  adopted  the 
trousers  and  calico  shirts  of  the  white  man.  Sev- 
eral of  the  chieftains  preserved  their  precious  peace- 
pipes,  and  their  fans  and  tobacco  pouches,  as  of  old, 
and  a  few  of  those  who  had  been  in  Washington  came 
in  wrinkled  suits  of  army-blue.  The  women  dressed 
in  calico  robes  cut  in  their  own  distinctive  style, 
with  wide  sleeves,  the  loose  flow  of  the  garment  being 


CAGED  EAGLES 

confined  at  the  waist  with  a  girdle.  As  this  was  a 
time  of  great  formality,  several  of  the  young  girls  re- 
turned to  their  buckskin  dresses  trimmed  with  elk 
teeth,  which  they  highly  prized. 

As  a  race  they  were  tall  and  strong,  but  the  men, 
from  much  riding,  were  thin  in  the  shanks  and  bowed 
out  at  the  knee.  They  had  lost  the  fine  proportions 
for  which  they  were  famed  in  the  days  when  they 
were  trailers  a-foot.  "Straight  as  an  Indian"  no 
longer  applied  to  them,  but  they  were  all  skilled 
and  picturesque  horsemen.  Lacking  in  beauty  and 
strength,  they  possessed  other  compensating  qual- 
ities which  still  made  them  most  interesting  to  an 
artist.  Their  gestures  were  unstudiedly  graceful, 
and  their  roughhewn  faces  were  pleasant  in  expres- 
sion. Ill  words  or  dark  looks  were  rare  among  them. 

In  all  external  things  they  were  quite  obviously 
half-way  from  the  tepee  to  the  cabin.  Their  homes 
consisted  of  small  hovels  of  cotton-wood  logs,  set  round 
with  tall  tepees  and  low  lodges  of  canvas,  used  for 
dormitories  and  kitchens  in  summer.  A  rack  for 
drying  meat  rations  was  a  part  of  each  family's  pos- 
sessions. They  owned  many  minute  ponies,  and 
their  camps  abounded  in  dogs  of  wolfish  breed  which 
they  handled  not  at  all,  for  they  were,  as  of  old,  mere- 
ly the  camp-guard. 

Such  were  the  salient  characteristics  of  the  Te* 
tongs,  westernmost  representatives  of  a  once  power- 
ful race  of  hunters,  whose  home  had  been  far  to  the 
east,  in  a  land  of  lakes,  rivers,  and  forests.  They  were 
not  strangers  to  the  young  soldier;  he  knew  their 
history  and  their  habits  of  thought.  He  now  studied 
them  to  detect  change  and  found  deterioration.  "I 
4  49 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

am  your  friend/'  he  said  to  them  each  and  all.  "1 
come  to  do  you  good,  to  lead  you  in  the  new  road.  It 
is  a  strange  road  to  me  also,  for  I,  too,  am  a  soldier 
and  a  hunter;  but  together  we  will  learn  to  make 
the  earth  produce  meat  for  our  eating.  Put  your 
hand  in  mine/' 

He  was  plunged  at  once  into  a  wilderness  of  work, 
but  in  his  moments  of  leisure  the  face  of  Elsie  Bris- 
bane came  into  his  thought  and  her  resentment 
troubled  him  more  than  he  cared  to  acknowledge. 
He  well  knew  that  her  birth  and  her  training  put 
her  in  hopeless  opposition  to  all  he  was  planning  to 
do  for  the  Tetongs,  and  yet  he  determined  to  demon- 
strate to  her  both  the  justice  and  the  humanity  of  his 
position. 

He  knew  her  father's  career  very  well.  He  had 
once  travelled  for  two  days  on  the  same  railway  train 
with  him,  and  remembered  him  as  a  boastful  but 
powerful  man,  whose  antagonism  no  one  held  in 
light  esteem.  Andrew  Brisbane  had  entered  the 
State  at  a  time  when  its  mineral  wealth  lay  undevel- 
oped and  free  to  the  taker,  and  having  leagued  him- 
self with  men  less  masterly  than  himself  but  quite 
as  unscrupulous,  had  set  to  work  to  grasp  and  hold 
the  natural  resources  of  the  great  Territory — he  laid 
strong  lists  upon  the  mines  and  forests  and  grass  of 
the  wild  land.  Once  grasped,  nothing  was  ever  sur- 
rendered. 

It  mattered  nothing  to  him  and  his  kind  that  a 
race  of  men  already  lived  upon  this  land  and  were 
prepared  to  die  in  defence  of  it.  By  adroit  juggling, 
he  and  his  corporation  put  the  unsuspecting  settler 
forward  to  receive  the  first  shock  of  the  battk,  and/ 

50 


CAGED  EAGLES 

trouble  came,  loudly  called  upon  the  govern- 
ment to  send  itvS  troops  "in  support  of  the  pioneers." 
In  this  way,  without  danger  to  himself,  the  shrewd 
old  Yankee  had  acquired  mineral  belts,  cattle-ranges, 
railway  rights,  and  many  other  good  things,  and  at 
last,  when  the  Territory  was  made  a  State,  he  became 
one  of  its  senators. 

Naturally,  he  hated  the  red  people.  They  were  pes- 
tilential because,  first  of  all,  they  paid  no  railway 
charges,  and  also  for  the  reason  that  they  held  the 
land  away  from  those  who  would  add  to  his  un- 
earned increment  and  increase  the  sum  total  of  his 
tariff  receipts.  His  original  plan  was  broadly  simple. 
"  Sweep  them  from  the  earth,"  he  snarled,  when  asked 
"What  will  we  do  with  the  Indians?"  But  his  policy, 
modified  by  men  with  hearts  and  a  sense  of  justice, 
had  settled  into  a  process  of  remorseless  removal  from 
point  to  point,  from  tillable  land  to  grazing  land,  from 
grazing  land  to  barren  waste,  and  from  barren  waste 
to  arid  desert.  He  had  no  doubts  in  these  matters. 
It  was  good  business,  and  to  say  a  thing  was  not 
good  business  was  conclusive.  The  Tetong  did  not 
pay — remove  him! 

Elsie  in  her  home-life,  therefore,  had  been  well 
schooled  in  race  hatred.  Tender-hearted  where  suf- 
fering in  a  dog  or  even  a  wolf  was  concerned,  she  re- 
mained indifferent  when  a  tribe  was  reported  to  be 
starving.  Nothing  modified  her  view  till,  as  an  art 
student  in  Paris,  she  came  into  contact  with  men  who 
placed  high  value  on  the  redman  as  "material/5 
She  found  herself  envied  because  she  had  casually 
looked  upon  a  few  of  these  "wonderful  chaps,"  as 
Newt  Penrose  called  them,  and  was  often  asked  to 

51 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

give  her  impressions  of  them.  When  she  returned  to 
New  York  she  was  deeply  impressed  by  Maurice 
Stewart's  enormous  success  in  sculpturing  certain 
types  of  this  despised  race.  A  little  later  Wilfred  J. 
Buttes,  who  had  been  struggling  along  as  a  painter 
of  bad  portraits,  suddenly  purchased  a  house  in  a 
choice  suburb  on  the  strength  of  two  summers'  work 
among  the  mountain  Utes. 

Thereupon  Elsie  opened  her  eyes.  Not  that  money 
was  a  lure  to  her,  for  it  was  not,  but  she  was  eager  for 
notice — for  the  fame  that  comes  quickly,  and  with  loud 
trumpets  and  gay  banners.  In  conversation  with 
Lawson  one  day  she  learned  that  he  was  about  to  do 
some  pen-portraits  of  noted  Tetong  chieftains,  and 
at  once  sprang  to  her  opportunity.  She  admired 
and  trusted  Lawson.  His  keen  judgment,  his  def- 
initeness  of  speech  awed  her  a  little,  and  with  him 
she  was  noticeably  less  assertive  than  with  the  others 
of  her  artist  acquaintances.  So  here  now  she  sat, 
painting  with  rigor  and  immense  satisfaction  the 
picturesque  rags  and  tinsel  ornaments  of  the  Tetongs. 
To  her  they  were  beggars  and  tramps,  on  a  scale  with 
the  lazzaroni  of  Rome  or  Naples.  That  they  were 
anything  more  than  troublesome  models  had  not 
been  borne  in  on  her  mind. 

She  had  never  professed  special  regard  for  her 
uncle  the  agent — in  fact,  she  covertly  despised  him 
for  his  lack  of  power — but,  now  that  the  issue  was. 
drawn,  she  naturally  flew  to  the  side  of  those  who 
would  destroy  the  small  peoples  of  the  earth.  She 
wrote  to  her  father  a  passionate  letter. 

"Can't  you  stop  this?"  she  asked.  "No  doubt 
Uncle  Henry  will  go  direct  to  Washington  and  make 

52 


CAGED  EAGLES 

complaint.  This  Captain  Curtis  is  insufferable.  I 
would  leave  here  instantly  only  I  am  bound  to  do 
some  work  for  Mr.  Lawson.  We  must  all  go  soon, 
for  winter  is  coming  on,  but  I  would  like  to  see  this 
upstart  humbled.  He  treats  me  as  if  I  were  a  school- 
girl— 'declines  to  argue  the  matter.'  Oh!  he  is  pro- 
voking. His  sister  is  a  nice  little  thing,  but  she  sides 
with  him,  of  course — and  so  does  Lawson,  in  a  sense; 
so  you  see  I  am  all  alone.  The  settlers  are  infuriated 
at  Uncle  Bennett's  dismissal,  and  will  support  you 
and  Uncle  Henry." 

In  the  days  that  followed  she  met  Curtis's  attempts 
at  modifying  her  resentment  with  scornful  silence, 
and  took  great  credit  to  herself  that  she  did  not  liter- 
ally fly  at  his  head  when  he  spoke  of  his  work  or  his 
wards.  Her  avoidance  of  him  became  so  painful 
that  at  the  end  of  the  third  day  he  said  to  his  sister: 
"Jennie,  I  think  I  will  go  to  the  school  mess  after 
this.  Miss  Brisbane's  hostility  shows  no  signs  of 
relenting,  and  the  situation  is  becoming  decidedly 
unpleasant." 

" George  1"  said  Jennie,  sternly.  "Don't  you  let 
that  snip  drive  you  away.  Why,  the  thing  is  ridicu- 
lous 1  She  is  here  on  sufferance — your  sufferance. 
You  could  order  them  all  off  the  reservation  at 
once." 

"  I  know  I  could,  but  I  won't.  You  know  what  I 
mean — I  can't  even  let  Miss  Brisbane  know  that  she 
has  made  me  uncomfortable.  She's  a  very  instruc- 
tive example  of  the  power  of  environment.  She  has 
all  the  prejudices  and  a  good  part  of  the  will  of  her 
father,  and  represents  her  class  just  as  a  little  wild- 
cat represents  its  species.  She's  a  beautiful  girl,  and 

53 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

yet  she  is  to  me  one  of  the  most  unattractive  wo'men 
I  ever  knew." 

Jennie  looked  puzzled.  "You  are  a  little  hard  on 
her,  George.  She  is  unsympathetic,  but  I  think  she 
says  a  lot  of  those  shocking  things  just  to  hurt  you." 

"That  isn't  very  nice,  either/'  he  said,  quietly. 
'"  Well,  our  goods  are  on  the  way,  and  by  Thursday 
well  be  independent  of  any  one.  But  maybe  you 
are  right — it  would  excite  comment  if  I  left  the  mess. 
I  will  join  you  all  at  meals  until  we  are  ready  to 
light  our  own  kitchen  fire." 

Thereafter  he  saw  very  little  of  the  artists.  By 
borrowing  a  few  necessaries  of  his  head  farmer  he 
was  able  to  camp  down  in  the  house  which  Sennet t 
had  so  precipitately  vacated.  He  was  busy,  very 
busy,  during  the  day;  but  when  his  work  was  over 
and  he  sat  beside  his  fire,  pipe  in  hand,  Elsie's  haughty 
face  troubled  him.  His  life  had  not  taken  him  much 
among  women,  and  his  love  fancies  had  been  few. 
His  duties  as  an  officer  and  his  researches  as  a  forester 
and  map-builder  had  also  aided  to  keep  him  a  bach- 
elor. Once  or  twice  he  had  been  disturbed  by  a  fair 
face  at  the  post,  only  to  have  it  whisked  away  again 
into  the  mysterious  world  of  happy  girlhood  whence 
it  came. 

And  now,  at  thirty-four,  he  was  obliged  to  confess 
that  he  was  as  far  from  marriage  as  ever — farther,  in 
fact,  for  an  Indian  reservation  offers  but  slender  op- 
portunity in  way  of  courtship  for  a  man  of  his  ex« 
acting  tastes. 

He  was  not  quite  honest  with  himself,  or  he  would 
have  acknowledged  the  pleasure  he  took  in  watching 
Elsie's  erect  and  graceful  figure  as  she  rode  past  his 

54 


CAGED  EAGLES 

office  window  of  a  morning.  It  was  pleasant  to  pause 
at  the  open  door  of  her  studio  for  a  moment  and  say 
"Good-morning/*  though  he  received  but  a  cold  and 
formal  bow  in  return.  She  was  more  alluring  at  her 
easel  than  in  any  other  place,  for  she  had  several 
curious  and  very  pretty  tricks  in  working,  and  seem- 
ed like  a  very  intent  child,  with  her  brown  hair  loos- 
ening over  her  temples,  her  eyes  glowing  with  excite- 
ment, while  she  dabbed  at  the  canvas  with  a  piece  of 
cheese-cloth  or  a  crumb  of  bread.  She  dragged  her 
stool  into  position  with  a  quick,  amusing  jerk,  holding 
her  brush  in  her  teeth  meanwhile.  Her  blouses  were 
marvels  of  odd  grace  and  rich  color. 

The  soldier  once  or  twice  lingered  in  silence  at  the 
door  after  she  had  forgotten  his  presence,  and  each 
time  the  glow  of  her  disturbing  beauty  burned  deeper 
into  his  heart,  and  he  went  away  with  drooping  head. 

Mrs.  Wilcox  took  occasion  one  day  to  remonstrate 
with  her  niece.  "Elsie,  you  were  very  rude  to  Cap- 
tain Curtis  again  to-day.  He  was  deeply  hurt." 

"  Now,  aunt,  don't  you  try  to  convert  me  to  a  belief 
in  that  tin  soldier.  He  gets  on  my  nerves." 

"It  would  serve  you  right  if  he  ordered  us  off  the 
reservation.  Your  remarks  to-day  before  that  young 
Mr.  Streeter  were  very  wrong  and  very  injudicious, 
and  will  be  used  in  a  bad  cause.  Captain  Curtis  is 
trying  to  keep  the  peace  here,  and  you  are  doing  a 
great  deal  of  harm  by  your  hints  of  his  removal." 

"I  don't  care.  I  intend  to  have  him  removed.  I 
have  taken  a  frightful  dislike  to  him.  He  is  a  prig 
and  a  hypocrite,  and  has  no  business  to  come  in  here 
in  this  way,  setting  his  low-down  Indians  up  against 
the  settlers." 

55 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"That's  just  what  he  is  trying  not  to  do,  and  if 
you  weren't  so  obstinate  you'd  see  it  and  honor  him 
for  his  good  sense." 

"Aunt,  don't  you  lecture  me/'  cried  the  imperious 
girl  "I  will  not  allow  it!" 

In  truth,  Mrs.  Wilcox's  well-meant  efforts  at  peace- 
making worked  out  wrongly.  Elsie  became  insuffer- 
ably rude  to  Curtis,  and  her  letters  were  filled  with 
the  bitterest  references  to  him  and  his  work. 

Lawson  continued  most  friendly,  and  Curtis  glad- 
ly availed  himself  of  the  wide  knowledge  of  primi- 
tive psychology  which  the  ethnologist  had  acquired. 
The  subject  of  Indian  education  came  up  very  natu- 
rally at  a  little  dinner  which  Jennie  gave  to  the  teach- 
ers and  missionaries  soon  after  she  opened  house, 
and  Lawson's  remarks  were  very  valuable  to  Curtis. 
Lawson  was  talking  to  the  principal  of  the  central 
school.  "We  should  apply  to  the  Indian  problem 
the  law  of  inherited  aptitudes,"  he  said,  slowly.  "  We 
should  follow  lines  of  least  resistance.  Fifty  thou- 
sand years  of  life  proceeding  in  a  certain  way  results 
in  a  certain  arrangement  of  brain-cells  which  can't 
be  changed  in  a  day,  or  even  in  a  generation.  The 
red  hunter,  for  example,  was  trained  to  endure  hunger, 
cold,  and  prolonged  exertion.  When  he  struck  a 
game-trail  he  never  left  it.  His  pertinacity  was  like 
that  of  a  wolf.  These  qualities  do  not  make  a  market- 
gardener  ;  they  might  not  be  out  of  place  as  a  herder. 
We  must  be  patient  while  the  redman  makes  the 
change  from  the  hunter  to  the  herdsman.  It  is  like 
mulching  a  young  crab-apple  and  expecting  it  to 
bear  pippins." 

"  Patience  is  an  unknown  virtue  in  an  Indian  agent/' 

56 


CAGED    EAGLES 

remarked  the  principal  of  the  central  school — "pres* 
ent  company  excepted." 

"Do  you  believe  in  the  allotment?"  asked  Miss 
Col  son,  one  of  the  missionaries  for  kindergarten  work, 
an  eager  little  woman,  aflame  with  religious  zeal. 

"  Not  in  its  present  form/'  replied  Lawson,  shortly. 
"Any  attempt  to  make  the  Tetong  conform  to  the 
isolated,  dreary,  lonesome  life  of  the  Western  farmer 
will  fail.  The  redman  is  a  social  being — he  is  pa- 
thetically dependent  on  his  tribe.  He  has  always 
lived  a  communal  life,  with  the  voices  of  his  fellows 
always  in  his  ears.  He  loves  to  sit  at  evening  and 
hear  the  chatter  of  his  neighbors.  His  games,  his 
hunting,  his  toil,  all  went  on  with  what  our  early 
settlers  called  a  'bee.'  He  seldom  worked  or  played 
alone.  His  worst  punishment  was  to  be  banished 
from  the  camping  circle.  Now  the  Dawes  theorists 
think  they  can  take  this  man,  who  has  no  newspaper, 
no  books,  no  letters,  and  set  him  apart  from  his  fel- 
lows in  a  wretched  hovel  on  the  bare  plain,  miles 
from  a  neighbor,  there  to  improve  his  farm  and  be- 
come a  citizen.  This  mechanical  theory  has  failed 
in  every  case;  nominally,  the  Sioux,  the  Piegans, 
are  living  this  abhorrent  life ;  actually,  they  are  al- 
ways visiting.  The  loneliness  is  unendurable,  and 
so  they  will  not  cultivate  gardens  or  keep  live-stock, 
which  would  force  them  to  keep  at  home.  If  they 
were  allowed  to  settle  in  groups  of  four  or  five  they 
would  do  better." 

Miss  Colson's  deep  seriousness  of  purpose  was 
evident  in  the  tremulous  intensity  of  her  voice,  "If 
they  had  the  transforming  love  of  Christ  in  their 
hearts  they  would  feel  no  loneliness." 

57 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

A  silence  followed  this  speech ;  both  men  mentally 
shrugged  their  shoulders,  but  Jennie  came  to  the 
rescue. 

"  Miss  Colson,  did  you  ever  live  on  a  ranch,  miles 
from  any  other  stove-pipe?" 

"No,  but  I  am  sure  that  with  God  as  my  helper  I 
could  live  in  a  dungeon." 

"You  should  have  been  a  nun,"  said  Lawson.  "I 
don't  mind  your  living  alone  with  Christ,  but  I  think 
it  cruel  and  unchristian  to  force  your  solitary  way  of 
life  on  a  sociable  redman.  Would  Christ  do  that? 
Would  He  insist  on  shutting  the  door  on  their  my- 
thology, their  nature  lore,  their  dances  and  cere- 
monies? Would  He  not  go  freely  among  them,  glad 
of  their  joy,  and  condemning  only  what  was  hurtful? 
Is  there  any  record  that  He  ever  condemned  an  inno- 
cent pleasure?  How  do  you  know  but  they  are  as 
near  the  Creator's  design  as  the  people  of  Ohio?" 

The  teacher's  pretty  face  was  strained  and  white, 
and  her  wide-set  eyes  wrere  painful  to  see.  She  set 
her  slim  hands  together.  "Oh,  I  can't  answer  you 
now,  but  I  know  you  are  wrong — wickedly  wrong!" 

Jennie  again  broke  the  intensity  of  the  silence  by 
saying:  "Two  big  men  against  one  little  woman 
isn't  fair.  I  object  to  having  the  Indian  problem 
settled  over  cold  coffee.  Mr.  Lawson,  stop  preach- 
ing!" 

"Miss  Colson  is  abundantly  able  to  take  care  of 
herself,"  said  Slicer,  and  the  other  teachers,  who  had 
handed  over  their  cause  to  their  ablest  advocate, 
chorused  approval. 

Curtis,  who  sat  with  deeply  meditative  eyes  fixed 
on  Miss  Colson,  now  said:  "It  all  depends  on  wrhat 

58 


CAGED    EAGLES 

we  are  trying  to  do  for  these  people.  Personally,  1 
am  not  concerned  about  the  future  life  of  my  wardSc 
I  want  to  make  them  healthy  and  happy,  here  and 
now." 

"Time's  up!"  cried  Jennie,  and  led  the  woman  out 
into  the  safe  harbor  of  the  sitting-room. 

After  they  had  lighted  their  cigars,  Lawson  said 
privately  to  Curtis:  "Now  there's  a  girl  with  too 
much  moral  purpose — just  as  Elsie  is  spoiled  by  too 
little.  However,  I  prefer  a  wholesome  pagan  to  a 
morbid  Christian." 

"  It's  rather  curious,"  Curtis  replied,  "  Miss  Colson 
is  a  pretty  girl — a.  very  pretty  girl;  but  I  can't  quite 
imagine  a  man  being  in  love  with  her.  What  could 
you  do  with  such  inexorable  moral  purpose?  You 
couldn't  put  your  arm  round  it,  could  you?" 

"  You'd  have  to  hang  her  up  by  a  string,  like  one  of 
these  toy  angels  the  Dutch  put  atop  their  Christmas- 
trees.  The  Tetongs  fairly  dread  to  see  her  coming 
— they  think  she's  deranged." 

"I  know  it  —  the  children  go  to  her  with  reluc- 
tance; she  doesn't  seem  wholesome  to  them,  as  Miss 
Diehl  does.  And  yet  I  can't  discharge  her." 

"Naturally  not!  You'd  hear  from  the  missionary 
world.  Think  of  it!  'I  find  Miss  Colson  too  pious, 
please  take  her  away,"  Both  men  laughed  at  the 
absurdity  of  this,  and  Lawson  went  on :  "I  wished  a 
dozen  times  during  dinner  that  Elsie  Bee  Bee  had 
been  present.  It  would  have  given  her  a  jolt  to  come 
in  contact  with  such  inartistic,  unshakable  convic- 
tions." 

"She  would  have  been  here,  only  her  resentment 
towards  me  is  still  very  strong/' 

59 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"  She  has  it  in  for  you,  sure  thing.  I  can't  budge 
her/'  said  Lawson,  smiling.  "She's  going  to  have 
you  removed  the  moment  she  reaches  Washington." 
,  "I  have  moments  when  I  think  I'd  like  to  be  re- 
moved," said  Curtis,  as  he  turned  towards  Mr.  Slicer 
and  his  other  guests.  "Suppose  we  go  into  the  li- 
brary, gentlemen." 


VI 

CURTIS    SEEKS  A  TRUCE 

artists  are  going  to  flit,"  remarked  Jennie, 
one  evening,  as  they  were  taking  seats  at 
luncheon. 

He  looked  up  quickly.     "Are  they?" 

"Yes,  Miss  Brisbane  is  going  back  to  Washing- 
ton, and  Mr.  Lawson  will  follow,  no  doubt." 

He  unfolded  his  napkin  with  unmoved  countenance. 
"  Well,  they  are  wise ;  we  are  likely  to  have  a  norther 
any  day  now." 

The  soldier  had  all  the  responsibilities  and  perplex- 
ities he  could  master  without  the  addition  of  Elsie 
Brisbane's  disturbing  lure.  The  value  of  her  good 
opinion  was  enormously  enhanced  by  the  news  of 
her  intended  departure,  and  for  a  day  or  two  Curtis 
went  about  his  duties  with  absent  -  minded  ineffec- 
tiveness ;  he  even  detected  himself  once  or  twice  sitting 
with  his  pen  in  his  hand  creating  aimless  markings 
on  his  blotting-pad.  Wilson,  the  clerk,  on  one  occa- 
sion waited  full  five  minutes  for  an  answer  while  his 
chief  debated  with  himself  whether  to  call  upon  Miss 
Brisbane  at  the  studio  or  at  the  house.  He  began  to 
find  excuses  for  her — "  A  man  who  is  a  villain  in  busi- 
ness may  be  a  very  attractive  citizen  in  private  life 
—and  she  may  have  been  very  fond  of  Sennett.  From 

61  ' 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

her  point  of  view — anyhow,  she  is  a  lovely  young 
girl,  and  it  is  absurd  to  place  her  among  my  enemies/' 
The  thought  of  her  face  set  in  bitter  scorn  against 
him  caused  his  heart  to  contract  painfully.  "I've 
been  too  harsh.  These  people  are  repugnant  to  one 
so  dainty  and  superrefmed.  There  are  excuses  for 
her  prejudice.  I  can't  let  her  go  away  in  anger." 
And  in  this  humble  mood  he  stopped  at  the  door  of 
her  studio  one  morning,  prepared  to  be  very  patient 
and  very  persuasive. 

"Good-morning,  Miss  Brisbane.    May  I  come  in?" 

"Certainly,  if  my  work  will  interest  you,"  she  re- 
plied; "you'll  excuse  my  going  on.  I  want  to  finish 
this  portrait  of  Little  Peta  to-day." 

"  By  all  means — I  do  not  intend  to  interrupt."  He 
took  a  seat  to  the  front  and  a  little  to  the  left  of  her, 
and  sat  in  silence  for  a  few  moments.  Her  brown 
hair,  piled  loosely  on  her  head,  brought  out  the  ex- 
quisite fairness  of  her  complexion,  and  the  big,  loose 
sleeve  of  her  blouse  made  her  hand  seem  like  a  child's, 
but  it  was  strong  and  steady.  She  was  working 
with  her  whole  mind,  breathing  quickly  as  she  mixed 
her  colors,  holding  her  breath  as  she  put  her  brush 
against  the  canvas.  She  used  the  apparently  aim- 
less yet  secure  movement  of  the  born  painter.  With 
half-closed  eyes  and  head  a  little  to  one  side,  with 
small  hand  lifted  to  measure  and  compare,  she  took 
on  a  new  expression,  a  bewitching  intentness,  which 
quite  transformed  her. 

"  I  hear  you  are  going  away/'  said  Curtis  at 
last,  speaking  with  some  effort,  uncertain  of  he* 
temper. 

"Yes,  we  break  up  and  vacate  to-morrow." 
62 


CURTIS   SEEKS   A   TRUCE 

"Why  break  up?  You  will  want  to  come  back 
next  spring.  Leave  the  place  as  it  is." 

She  gave  him  a  quick,  keen  glance,  and  put  her 
head  again  on  one  side  to  squint. 

"I  have  no  intention  of  returning." 

"Have  you  exhausted  Indian  subjects?" 

"Oh  no!"  she  exclaimed,  with  sudden,  artistic  en- 
thusiasm. "  I  have  just  begun  to  see  what  I  want  to 
do." 

"Then  why  not  come  back?"  She  did  not  reply, 
and  he  resumed,  with  tender  gravity:  "I  hope  I 
haven't  made  it  so  unpleasant  for  you  that  you  are 
running  away  to  escape  me?" 

She  turned  with  a  sharp  word  on  her  tongue,  but 
he  was  so  frank  and  so  handsome,  and  withal  so 
humble,  that  she  instantly  relented.  She  was  used 
to  this  humility  in  men  and  knew  the  meaning  thereof, 
and  a  flush  of  gratified  pride  rose  to  her  face.  The 
proud  soldier  had  become  a  suitor  like  the  others. 

"  Oh  no  —  you  have  nothing  to  do  with  it,"  she 
replied,  carelessly. 

"  I  am  glad  of  that.  I  was  afraid  you  might  think 
me  unsympathetic,  but  I  am  not.  I  am  here  this 
morning  to  offer  you  my  cordial  assistance,  for  I  am 
eager  to  see  this  people  put  into  art.  So  far  as  I  know, 
they  have  never  been  adequately  treated  in  painting 
or  in  sculpture." 

"Thank  you,"  she  said,  "I  don't  think  I  shall  go 
very  far  with  them.  They  are  very  pleasant  on  can- 
vas, but  there  are  too  many  disagreeable  things  con- 
nected with  painting  them.  I  don't  see  how  you  en- 
dure the  thought  of  living  here  among  them."  She 
shuddered.  "I  hate  them!" 

63 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"I  don't  understand  that  hardness  in  you,  Miss 
Brisbane/'  he  replied. 

"  I'm  sure  it  isn't  mysterious.  I  hate  dirt  and  rags, 
even  when  painted.  Now  Little  Peta  here  is  quite 
different.  She  is  a  dear  little  thing.  See  her  sigh — 
she  gets  so  tired,  but  she's  patient." 

"  You  are  making  a  beautiful  picture  of  her.  Your 
skill  is  marvellous."  His  method  of  approach  was 
more  adroit  than  he  realized ;  she  softened  yet  again. 

"  Thank  you.     I  seem  to  have  hit  her  off  very  well." 

"Will  you  exhibit  in  Washington  this  winter?" 
he  asked,  with  boyish  eagerness. 

"I  may — I  haven't  quite  decided,"  she  said,  quite 
off  guard  at  last. 

"  If  you  do  I  wish  you  would  let  me  know.  I  may 
be  able  to  visit  the  exhibition  and  witness  your  tri- 
umph." 

She  began  to  suspect  his  motives.  "Oh,  my  little 
row  of  paintings  couldn't  be  tortured  into  a  triumph. 
I've  stolen  the  time  for  them  from  Mr.  Lawson,  whose 
illustrations  I  have  neglected."  She  was  again  cold 
and  repellent. 

"Miss  Brisbane,  this  whole  situation  has  become 
intolerable  to  me."  He  rose  and  faced  her,  very  sin- 
cere and  deeply  earnest.  "  I  do  not  like  to  have  you 
go  away  carrying  an  unpleasant  impression  of  me. 
What  can  I  do  to  change  it?  If  I  have  been  boorish 
or  presuming  in  any  way  I  sincerely  beg  your  par- 
don." 

She  motioned  to  Peta.  "You  can  go  now,  dear, 
I've  done  all  I  can  to-day." 

Curtis  took  up  his  hat.  "  I  nope  I  have  not  broken 
up  your  sitting.  It  would  be  unpardonable  in  me." 

64 


CURTIS  SEEKS  A  TRUCE 

She  squinted  back  at  the  picture  with  professional 
gravity.  "Oh  no;  I  only  had  a  few  touches  to  put 
in  under  the  chin — that  luminous  shadow  is  so  hard 
to  get.  I'm  quite  finished." 

She  went  behind  a  screen  for  a  few  moments,  and 
when  she  reappeared  without  her  brushes  and  her 
blouse  she  was  the  society  young  lady  in  tone  and 
manner. 

"  Would  you  like  to  look  at  my  sketches?"  she  asked. 
"They're  jolly  rubbish,  the  whole  lot,  but  they  rep- 
resent a  deal  of  enthusiasm." 

Her  tone  was  friendly — too  friendly,  considering 
the  point  at  which  he  had  paused,  and  he  was  a  little 
hurt  by  it.  Was  she  playing  with  him? 

His  tone  was  firm  and  his  manner  direct  as  he  said : 
"Miss  Brisbane,  I  am  accustomed  to  deal  directly 
with  friends  as  well  as  enemies,  and  I  like  to  have 
people  equally  frank  with  me.  I  know  you  are  angry 
because  of  my  action  in  the  case  of  your  uncle.  I  do 
not  ask  pardon  for  that ;  I  was  acting  there  in  line  of 
my  duty.  But  if  I  have  spoken  harshly  or  without 
due  regard  to  your  feelings  at  any  time  I  ask  you  to 
forgive  me." 

He  made  a  powerful  appeal  to  her  at  this  moment, 
but  she  wilfully  replied:  "You  made  no  effort  to 
soften  my  uncle's  disgrace." 

"  I  didn't  know  he  was  your  uncle  at  that  time," 
he  said,  but  his  face  grew  grave  quickly.  "It 
would  have  made  no  difference  if  I  had — my  orders 
were  to  step  between  him  and  the  records  of  the  office. 
So  far  as  my  orders  enlightened  me,  he  was  a  man  to 
be  watched."  He  turned  towards  the  door.  "  Is  there 
anything  I  can  do  to  help  you  reach  the  station  to* 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

morrow?  My  sister  and  I  would  gladly  drive  you 
down/' 

She  was  unrelenting,  but  very  lovely  as  she  re- 
plied: "Thank  you;  you  are  very  kind,  but  all  ar- 
rangements are  made." 

"Good-afternoon,  Miss  Brisbane/ 

"Good-bye,  Captain  Curtis/' 

"She  is  hard — hard  as  iron/'  he  said,  as  he  walked 
away.  "Her  father's  daughter  in  every  fibre." 

He  was  ashamed  to  acknowledge  how  deeply  he 
felt  her  rejection  of  his  friendship,  and  the  thought  of 
not  seeing  her  again  gave  him  a  sudden  sense  of 
weakness  and  loneliness. 

Elsie,  on  her  part,  was  surprised  to  find  a  new  nerve 
tingling  in  her  brain,  and  this  tremor  cut  into  the 
complete  self-satisfaction  she  expected  to  feel  over 
her  refusal  of  the  peace-pipe.  Several  times  during 
the  afternoon,  while  superintending  her  packing,  she 
found  herself  standing  in  an  attitude  of  meditation — 
her  inward  eye  reverting  to  the  fine,  manly  figure  he 
made,  while  his  grave,  sweet  voice  vibrated  in  her 
ears.  She  began  to  see  herself  in  an  unpleasant 
light,  and  when  at  the  dinner-table  Lawson  spoke  of 
Curtis,  she  listened  to  him  with  more  real  interest 
than  ever  before. 

"He  is  making  wonderful  changes  here/'  Lawson 
was  saying.  "Everywhere  you  go  you  see  Tetongs 
working  at  fence  -  building,  bridge -making,  cabin- 
raising,  with  their  eagle  feathers  fluttering  in  the 
winds,  their  small  hands  chapped  with  cold.  They 
are  sawing  boards  and  piling  grain  in  the  warehouse 
and  daubing  red  paint  on  the  roofs.  They  are  in  a 
frenzy  of  work.  Every  man  has  his  rations  and  is 

66 


CURTIS   SEEKS  A  TRUCE 

happy.  In  some  way  he  has  persuaded  the  chiefs  to 
bring  in  all  the  school-children,  and  the  benches  are 
full  of  the  little  shock-heads,  wild  as  colts/' 

"A  new  broom,  etc./'  murmured  Elsie. 

"His  predecessor  never  was  a  new  broom/'  retorted 
Lawson,  quickly.  "Sennett  always  had  a  nasty 
slaunch  to  him.  He  never  in  his  life  cleaned  the  dirt 
from  the  corners,  and  I  don't  see  exactly  why  you 
take  such  pains  in  defending  him." 

"  Because  he  is  my  uncle,"  she  replied. 

"Uncle  Boot- jack!  That  is  pure  fudge,  Bee  Bee. 
You  didn't  speak  to  him  once  a  week;  you  privately 
despised  him — anybody  ould  see  that.  You  are 
simply  making  a  cudgel  of  him  now  to  beat  Curtis 
with — and,  to  speak  plainly,  I  think  it  petty  of  you. 
More  than  this,  you'd  better  hedge,  for  I'm  not  at  all 
sure  that  Sennett  has  not  been  peculating." 

Elsie  stopped  him  with  an  angry  gesture.  "I'll 
not  have  you  accusing  him  behind  his  back." 

Lawson  threw  out  his  hands  in  a  gesture  of  despair. 
"All  right!  But  make  a  note  of  it:  you'll  regret 
this  taking  sides  with  a  disreputable  old  bummer 
against  an  officer  of  Captain  Curtis's  reputation." 

"  You  are  not  my  master!"  she  said,  and  her  eyes 
were  fiercely  bright.  "  I  do  not  wish  to  hear  you  use 
that  tone  to  me  again!  I  resent  it!"  and  she  struck 
the  floor  with  her  foot.  "  Henceforth,  if  we  are  to  re- 
main friends,  you  will  refrain  from  lecturing  me!" 
and  she  left  the  room  with  a  feeling  of  having  done 
two  men  a  wrong  by  being  unjust  to  herself,  and 
this  feeling  deepened  into  shame  as  she  lay  in  her 
bed  that  night.  It  was  her  first  serious  difference 
with  Lawson  and  she  grew  unhappy  over  it.  "  But 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

he  shouldn't  take  sides  against  me  like  that/'  she 
said,  in  an  attempt  to  justify  her  anger. 

On  the  second  morning  thereafter  Lawson  came 
into  the  office  and  said:  "Well,  Captain,  we  leave 
you  this  morning/' 

Curtis  looked  up  into  his  visitor's  fine,  sensitive 
face,  and  exclaimed,  abruptly — almost  violently :  "  I'm 
going  to  miss  you,  old  man." 

"My  heart's  with  you/'  replied  Lawson.  "And 
I  shall  return  next  spring/' 

"Bring  Miss  Brisbane  with  you." 

"  I'd  like  to  do  so,  but  she  is  vastly  out  of  key — and 
I  doubt.  Meanwhile,  if  I  can  be  of  any  use  to  you  in 
Washington  let  me  know." 

"  Thank  you,  Lawson,  I  trust  you  perfectly/'  Cur- 
tis replied,  with  a  glow  of  warm  liking. 

As  he  stood  at  the  gate  looking  up  into  Elsie's 
face,  she  seemed  very  much  softened,  and  he  wished 
to  reach  his  hand  and  stay  her  where  she  sat;  but 
the  last  word  was  spoken,  and  the  wagon  rolled 
away  with  no  more  definite  assurance  of  her  grow- 
ing friendship  than  was  to  be  read  in  a  polite 
smile. 

Jennie  was  tearful  as  she  said:  "After  all,  they 
were  worth  while." 

Curtis  sighed  as  he  said :  "  Sis,  the  realities  of  our 
position  begin  to  make  themselves  felt.  Play-spells 
will  be  fewer  now  that  our  artists  are  gone." 

"They  certainly  broke  our  fall,"  replied  Jennie, 
soberly.  "Osborne  Lawson  is  fine,  and  I  don't  be- 
lieve Elsie  Bee  Bee  is  as  ferocious  as  she  pretends  to 
be." 

"It's  her  training.  She  has  breathed  the  air  of 
68 


CURTIS   SEEKS   A  TRUCE 

rapacity  from   childhood.      I    can't   blame   her   for 
being  her  father's  child." 

Jennie  looked  at  him  as  if  he  were  presented  from 
a  new  angle  of  vision.  "George,  there  is  a  queer 
streak  in  you — for  a  soldier;  you're  too  soft-hearted, 
But  don't  you  get  too  much  interested  in  Elsie  Bee 
Bee;  she's  dangerous  —  and,  besides,  Mr.  Lawson 
wears  an  air  of  command. 


vn 

ELSIE  RELENTS  A  LITTLE 

THE  feeling  against  the  redmen,  intensified 
throughout  the  State  by  the  removal  of  Sen- 
nett,  beat  against  Curtis  like  a  flood.  Delegations 
of  citizens,  headed  by  Streeter  and  Johnson,  proceeded 
at  once  to  Washington,  laden  with  briefs,  affidavits, 
and  petitions,  and  there  laid  siege  to  Congress  as  soon 
as  the  members  began  to  assemble.  The  twenty 
original  homesteaders  were  taken  as  the  text  for  most 
impassioned  appeals  by  local  orators,  and  their  mel- 
ancholy situation  was  skilfully  enlarged  upon.  They 
were  described  as  hardy  and  industrious  patriots, 
hemmed  in  by  sullen  savages,  with  no  outlet  for  trade 
and  scant  pasturage  for  their  flocks — in  nightly  fear 
of  the  torch  and  the  scalping-knife. 

To  Curtis,  these  settlers  were  by  no  interpretation 
martyrs  in  the  cause  of  civilization — they  were  quite 
other.  His  birth,  his  military  training,  and  his  nat- 
ural refinement  tended  to  make  him  critical  of  them. 
They  were  to  him,  for  the  most  part,  "poor  whites/' 
too  pitiless  to  be  civilized,  and  too  degenerate  to  have 
the  interest  of  their  primitive  red  neighbors.  "The 
best  of  them,"  he  said  to  Jennie,  "are  foolhardy 
pioneers  who  have  exiled  their  wives  and  children  for 
no  good  reason.  The  others  are  cattlemen  who  fol- 

70 


ELSIE  RELENTS  A  LITTLE 

lowed  the  cavalry  in  order  to  fatten  their  stock  under 
the  protection  of  our  guidon/' 

The  citizens  of  Pinon  City  wondered  why  their 
delegates  made  so  little  impression  on  the  depart- 
ment, but  Streeter  was  not  left  long  in  doubt. 

The  Secretary  interrupted  him  in  the  midst  of  his 
first  presentation  of  the  matter. 

"Mr.  Streeter,  you  are  a  cattleman,  I  believe?" 

Streeter  looked  a  little  set  back.  "  I  am — yes,  sir, 
Mr.  Secretary/' 

The  Secretary  took  up  a  slip  of  paper.  "  Are  you 
the  Streeter  located  on  the  reservation  itself?" 

"Yes,  sir/' 

"Well,  you  are  an  interested  witness.  How  can 
you  expect  me  to  take  your  word  against  that  of  Cap- 
tain Curtis?  He  tells  me  the  Tetongs  are  peaceful, 
and  quick  to  respond  to  fair  treatment.  The  depart- 
ment has  absolute  confidence  in  Captain  Curtis,  and 
you  are  wasting  time  in  the  effort  to  discredit  him. 
The  tribe  will  not  be  removed.  Is  there  any  other 
question  you  would  like  to  raise?" 

Streeter  took  his  dismissal  hard.  He  hurried  at 
once  to  Brisbane,  his  face  scarlet  with  rage.  "He 
turned  me  down/'  he  snarled,  "  and  he's  got  to  suffer 
for  it.  There's  a  way  to  get  at  him,  and  you  must 
find  it." 

Brisbane  was  too  crafty  to  promise  any  definite 
thing.  "Now  wait  a  moment,  neighbor;  never  try 
to  yank  a  badger  out  of  his  den — wait  and  catch  him 
on  the  open  plain.  We  must  sound  the  Committee 
on  Indian  Affairs,  and  then  move  on  the  House.  If 
we  can't  put  through  our  removal  bill  we'll  substi- 
tute the  plan  for  buying  out  the  settlers.  If  that 

71 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

don't  work  I've  a  little  scheme  for  cutting  down  the 
reservation.  We  must  keep  cool — and  don't  mention 
tny  name  in  the  matter.  What  we  want  to  do  is  to 
pave  the  way  for  my  return  to  the  Senate  next  fall ; 
then  I  can  be  of  some  real  service  to  you.  I  am  now 
entirely  out  of  it,  as  you  can  see,  but  I'll  do  what  I 


can." 


Streeter  went  away  with  a  feeling  that  Brisbane 
was  losing  his  vigor,  and  a  few  days  later  returned  to 
the  West,  very  bitter  and  very  inflammatory  of  speech. 
"  The  bill  is  lost.  It  will  be  smothered  in  committee/' 
he  said  to  Calvin. 

Brisbane,  after  leaving  Streeter  that  day,  went 
home  to  dinner  with  an  awakened  curiosity  to  know 
more  about  this  young  man  in  whom  the  department 
had  such  confidence.  Lawson  was  dining  at  his 
table  that  night,  and  it  occurred  to  him  to  ask  a  little 
more  fully  about  Curtis. 

"  See  here,  Lawson,  you  were  out  there  on  the  Fort 
Smith  reservation,  weren't  you?  Wasn't  that  where 
you  and  Elsie  camped  this  summer?" 

Elsie  replied,  "Yes,  papa.  We  were  there  when 
Uncle  Sennett  was  dismissed." 

Brisbane  started  a  little.  "Why,  of  course  you 
were ;  my  memory  is  failing  me.  Well,  what  about 
this  man  Curtis — he's  a  crank  on  the  Indian  question, 
like  yourself,  isn't  he?" 

Lawson  smiled.  "We  believe  in  fair  play,  Gov- 
ernor. Yes,  he's  friendly  to  the  Indians." 

"  And  a  man  of  some  ability,  I  take  it?" 

"  A  man  of  unusual  ability.  He  is  an  able  forester, 
a  well-read  ethnologist,  and  has  made  many  valuable 
surveys  for  the  War  Department." 

72 


ELSIE  RELENTS  A  LITTLE 

"His  word  seems  to  have  great  weight  with  the 
department." 

"Justly,  too,  for  he  is  as  able  a  man  as  ever  held 
an  agent's  position.  A  few  men  like  Curtis  would 
solve  the  Indian  problem/' 

Elsie,  who  had  been  listening  in  meditative  silence, 
now  spoke.  "Nevertheless,  his  treatment  of  Uncle 
Sennett  was  brutal.  He  arrested  him  and  searched 
all  his  private  papers — don't  you  remember?" 

Brisbane  looked  at  Lawson  solemnly  and  winked 
the  eye  farthest  from  his  daughter.  Lawson's  lips 
quivered  with  his  efforts  to  restrain  a  smile.  Turn- 
ing then  to  Elsie,  Brisbane  said :  "  I  recall  your  story 
now — yes,  he  was  pretty  rigorous,  but  I'm  holding 
up  the  department  for  that;  the  agent  wasn't  to 
blame.  He  was  sent  there  to  do  that  kind  of  a  job, 
and  from  all  accounts  he  did  it  well." 

Elsie  lifted  her  eyebrows.  "  Does  that  excuse  him? 
He  kept  repeating  to  me  that  he  was  under  orders, 
but  I  took  his  saying  so  to  be  just  a  subterfuge." 

"Mighty  little  you  know  about  war,  my  girl.  To 
be  a  soldier  means  to  obey  orders  from  general  down 
to  corporal.  Moreover,  your  uncle  has  given  me  a 
whole  lot  of  trouble,  and  I  wouldn't  insist  on  a  rela- 
tionsjiip  which  does  us  no  credit.  I've  held  his  chin 
above  water  about  as  long  as  I'm  going  to." 

Elsie  was  getting  deeper  into  the  motives  and  pri- 
vate opinions  of  her  father  than  ever  before,  and,  as 
he  spoke,  her  mind  reverted  to  the  handsome  figure  of 
the  young  soldier  as  he  stood  before  her  in  the  studio, 
asking  for  a  kindlier  good-bye.  His  head  was  really 
beautiful,  and  his  eyes  were  deep  and  sincere.  She 
looked  up  at  her  father  with  frowning  brows.  "I 

73 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

thought  you  liked  Mr.  Sennett?  He  told  me  you  got 
him  his  place/' 

Brisbane  laughed.  "  My  dear  chicken,  he  was  a 
political  choice.  He  was  doing  work  for  our  side, 
and  had  to  be  paid." 

"  Do  you  mean  you  knew  the  kind  of  a  man  he  was 
when  you  put  him  there?" 

Brisbane  pulled  himself  up  short.  "  Now  see  here, 
my  daughter,  you're  getting  out  of  your  bailiwick." 

"But  I  want  to  understand — if  you  knew  he  was 
stealing — " 

"I  didn't  know  it.  How  should  I  know  it?  I  put 
him  there  to  keep  him  busy.  I  didn't  suppose  he  was 
a  sot  and  a  petty  plunderer.  Now  let's  have  no  more 
of  this."  Brisbane  was  getting  old  and  a  trifle  irri- 
table, but  he  was  still  master  of  himself.  "I  don't 
know  why  I  should  be  taken  to  task  by  my  own  daugh- 
ter." 

Elsie  said  no  more,  but  her  lips  straightened  and 
her  eyes  grew  reflective.  As  the  coffee  and  cigars 
came  in,  she  left  the  two  men  at  the  table  and  went 
out  into  the  music-room.  It  seemed  very  lonely  in 
the  big  house  that  night,  and  she  sat  down  at  the 
piano  to  play,  thinking  to  cure  herself  of  an  uneasy 
conscience.  She  was  almost  as  good  a  pianist  as  a 
painter,  and  the  common  criticism  of  her  was  on 
this  score.  "  Bee  does  everything  too  well,"  Penrose 
said. 

She  played  softly,  musingly,  and,  for  some  reason, 
sadly.  "  I  wonder  if  I  have  done  him  an  injustice?'' 
she  thought.  And  then  that  brutal  leer  on  her  fa- 
ther's face  came  to  disturb  her.  "  I  wish  he  hadn't 
spoken  to  me  like  that,"  she  said.  ""I  don't  like  his 

74 


ELSIE  RELENTS  A  LITTLE 

political  world.  I  wish  he  would  get  out  of  it.  It 
isn't  nice." 

In  the  end,  she  left  off  playing  and  went  slowly  up 
to  her  studio,  half  determined  to  write  a  letter  of  apol- 
ogy. Her  "work-shop/'  which  had  been  added  to 
the  house  since  her  return  from  Paris,  was  on  a  level 
with  her  sitting-room,  which  served  as  a  reception 
hall  to  the  studio  itself.  Her  artist  friends  declared 
it  to  be  too  beautiful  to  work  in,  and  so  it  seemed,  for 
it  was  full  of  cosey  corners  and  soft  divans — a  glori- 
ous lounging  -  place.  Nevertheless,  its  walls  were 
covered  with  pictures  of  her  own  making.  Costly 
rugs  and  a  polished  floor  seemed  not  to  deter  her 
from  effort.  She  remained  a  miracle  of  industry 
in  spite  of  the  scoffing  of  her  fellows,  who  were 
stowed  about  the  city  in  dusty  lofts  like  pigeons. 

Proud  and  wilful  as  she  seemed,  Elsie  had  always 
prided  herself  on  being  just,  and  to  be  placed  in  the 
position  of  doing  an  honorable  man  a  wrong  was  in- 
tolerable. The  longer  she  dwelt  upon  her  action 
the  more  uneasy  she  became.  Her  vision  clarified. 
All  that  had  been  hidden  by  her  absurd  prejudice  and 
reasonless  dislike — the  soldier's  frank  and  manly  firm- 
ness, Lawson's  reproaches,  her  aunt's  open  reproof — 
all  these  grew  in  power  and  significance  as  she  mused. 

Taking  a  seat  at  her  desk,  she  began  a  letter, 
"Captain  Curtis,  Dear  Sir — "  But  this  seemed  so 
palpably  a  continuance  of  her  repellent  mood  that 
she  tore  it  up,  and  started  another  in  the  spirit  of 
friendliness  and  contrition  which  had  seized  upon  her : 

"  DEAR  CAPTAIN  CURTIS,— -I  have  just  heard  something 
which  convinces  me  that  I  have  done  you  an  injustice,  and 


THE  CAPTAIN  OP  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

I  hasten  to  beg  your  pardon.  I  knew  my  uncle  Sennett 
only  as  a  child  knows  a  man  of  middle  age — he  was  always 
kind  and  good  and  amusing  to  me.  I  had  no  conception  of 
his  real  self.  My  present  understanding  of  him  has  changed 
my  feeling  towards  your  action.  I  still  think  you  were  harsh 
and  unsympathetic,  but  I  now  see  that  you  were  simply 
doing  the  will  of  the  department.  So  far  I  apologize  If 
you  come  to  Washington  I  hope  you  will  let  us  know/' 

As  she  re-read  this  it  seemed  to  be  a  very  great  con* 
cession  indeed;  but  as  she  recalled  the  handsome, 
troubled  face  of  the  soldier,  she  decided  to  send  it,  no 
matter  what  he  might  think  of  her.  As  she  sealed 
the  letter  her  heart  grew  lighter,  and  she  smiled. 

When  she  re-entered  the  library  her  father  was 
saying:  "No,  I  don't  expect  to  get  him  removed. 
The  present  administration  and  its  whole  policy  must 
be  overthrown.  Curtis  is  only  a  fly  on  the  rim  of  the 
wheel.  He  don't  count." 

"  Any  man  counts  who  is  a  moral  force,"  Lawson 
replied,  with  calm  sincerity.  "  Curtis  will  bother  you 
yet." 


vin 

CURTIS  WRITES  A  LONG  LETTER 

THE  stage-driver  and  mail-carrier  to  Fort  Smith 
was  young  Crane's  Voice,  and  this  was  his  first 
trip  in  December.  He  congratulated  himself  on  hav- 
ing his  back  to  the  wind  on  the  fifty-mile  ride  up  the 
valley.  A  norther  was  abroad  over  the  earth,  and, 
sweeping  down  from  arctic  wildernesses,  seemingly 
gathered  power  as  it  came.  It  crossed  two  vast  States 
in  a  single  night  and  fell  upon  the  Fort  Smith  reserva- 
tion with  terrible  fury  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
Crane's  Voice  did  not  get  his  mail-sack  till  twelve, 
but  his  ponies  were  fed  and  watered  and  ready  to 
move  when  the  bag  came.  He  did  not  know  that  it 
contained  a  letter  to  warm  the  heart  of  his  hero,  the 
Captain,  but  he  flung  the  sack  into  his  cart  and  put 
stick  to  his  broncos  quite  as  manfully  as  though  the 
Little  Father  waited.  The  road  was  smooth  and  hard 
and  quite  level  for  thirty  miles,  and  he  intended  to 
cover  this  stretch  in  five  hours.  Darkness  would 
come  early,  and  the  snow,  which  was  hardly  more 
than  a  frost  at  noon,  might  thicken  into  a  blizzard. 
So  he  pushed  on  steadily,  fiercely,  silently,  till  a  sin- 
ister dusk  began  to  fall  over  the  buttes,  and  then, 
lifting  his  voice  in  a  deep,  humming,  throbbing  in- 
cantation, he  sang  to  keep  off  spirits  of  evil 

77 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY -HORSE  TROOP 

Crane's  Voice  was  something  of  an  aristocrat.  As 
the  son  of  Chief  Elk  he  had  improved  his  opportu- 
nities to  learn  of  the  white  man,  and  could  speak  a 
little  English  rnd  understand  a  good  deal  more  than 
he  acknowledged,  which  gave  him  a  startling  in- 
sight at  times  into  the  words  and  actions  of  the  white 
people.  It  was  his  report  of  the  unvarying  kindli- 
ness and  right  feeling  of  Captain  Curtis  which  had 
done  so  much  to  make  the  whole  tribe  trust* and  obey 
the  new  agent. 

Crane's  Voice  was  afraid  of  spirits,  but  he  shrank 
from  no  hardship.  He  was  proud  of  his  blue  uni- 
form, and  of  the  revolver  which  he  was  permitted  to 
wear  to  guard  the  mail.  No  storm  had  ever  prevented 
him  from  making  his  trip,  and  his  uncomplaining 
endurance  of  heat,  cold,  snow,  and  rain  would  have 
been  counted  heroic  in  a  military  scout.  His  virtues 
were  so  evident  even  to  the  cowboys  that  they  made 
him  an  exception  by  saying,  "Yes,  Crane  is  purty 
near  white,"  and  being  besotted  in  their  own  vanity, 
they  failed  to  see  the  humor  of  such  a  phrase  in  the 
mouth  of  a  drunken,  obscene,  lawless  son  of  a  Mis- 
souri emigrant.  As  a  matter  of  fact  there  were  many 
like  Crane  in  the  tribe,  only  the  settlers  never  came  in 
personal  contact  with  them. 

Crane  found  his  road  heavy  with  drifts  as  he  left 
the  main  valley  and  began  to  climb,  and  he  did  not 
reach  the  agency  till  long  after  Curtis  had  gone  to 
bed,  but  he  found  his  anxious  mother  waiting  for  him, 
together  with  the  captain  of  police,  who  took  the  bag 
of  mail  to  the  office.  As  he  drove  into  the  big  corral  out 
of  the  wind  the  boy  said,  in  his  quaint  English :  "  Me 
no  like  'um  blizzard.  Fleeze  ears  like  buffalo  horn.*' 

78 


CURTIS  WRITES  A  LONG  LETTER 

Curtis  came  to  the  office  next  morning  with  a  heavy 
heart.  He  knew  how  hard  the  bitter  cold  pressed 
upon  his  helpless  wards,  and  suffered  acutely  for  sym- 
pathy. He  spoke  to  all  of  those  he  met  with  unusual 
tenderness,  and  asked  minutely  after  the  children,  to 
be  sure  that  none  were  ill  or  hungry. 

As  Wilson,  his  clerk,  laid  the  big  package  of  letters 
and  papers  on  his  table,  the  pale-blue,  square  envelope 
which  bore  Elsie's  handwriting  was  ostentatiously 
balanced  on  top.  Wilson,  the  lovelorn  clerk,  sighed 
to  think  he  had  no  such  missive  in  his  mail  that 
gloomy  morning.  Looking  in,  a  half-hour  later,  he 
found  Curtis  writing  busily  in  answer  to  that  letter, 
all  the  rest  of  his  mail  being  untouched.  "  I  thought 
so,"  said  he;  "  I'd  neglect  any  business  for  a  sweet 
little  envelope  like  that/'  and  he  sighed  again. 

Curtis  had  opened  the  letter  eagerly,  but  with  no 
expectation  of  comfort.  As  he  read  he  forgot  the 
storm  outside.  A  warm  glow  crept  into  his  blood. 
Lover-like,  he  got  from  the  letter  a  great  deal  more 
than  Elsie  had  intended  to  say.  He  seized  his  pen 
to  reply  at  once — just  a  few  lines  to  set  her  mind  at 
rest ;  but  his  thought  ran  on  so  fast,  so  full  of  energy, 
that  his  writing  became  all  but  illegible : 

"  DEAR  MISS  BRISBANE,— You  have  given  me  a  great 
pleasure  by  your  letter,  and  I  am  replying  at  once  to 
assure  you  that  I  did  not  lay  your  words  up  against  you, 
because  I  felt  you  did  not  fully  understand  the  situation. 
Your  letter  gives  me  courage  to  say  that  I  think  you  are 
unjust  in  your  attitude  towards  these  primitive  races — and 
I  also  hope  that  as  fuller  understanding  comes  you  will 
change  your  views. 

"  Here  they  are,  fenced  in  on  the  poorest  part  of  this  bleak 

79 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

reservation,  on  the  cold  slope  of  the  range,  exposed  to  the 
heat  and  drought  of  summer  and  the  storms  of  winter.  This 
morning,  for  example,  the  wind  is  rushing  up  the  converg- 
ing walls  of  this  valley — which  opens  out  to  the  northeast, 
you  remember — and  the  cold  is  intense.  I  am  just  sending 
out  messengers  to  see  that  no  children  are  freezing.  Every- 
thing is  hard  as  iron,  and  the  Indians,  muffled  in  their  blan- 
kets, are  sitting  beside  their  fires  glum  as  owls,  waiting  the 
coming  of  the  sunshine. 

"  I  must  tell  you  something  which  happened  since  you 
went  away — it  may  correct  your  views  of  the  Tetongs.  It 
is  my  policy  to  give  all  hauling  and  wood  contracts  to  the 
Indian  instead  of  the  white  man,  and  when  I  told  the  white 
who  has  been  putting  in  the  wood  that  I  was  about  to  let  the 
contract  to  the  reds  he  laughed  and  said, '  You  can't  get  'em 
to  do  that  work!'  But  I  felt  sure  I  could.  I  called  them  to- 
gether and  gave  them  fifty  axes  and  told  them  how  much 
wood  I  wanted.  A  few  days  later  I  thought  I'd  ride  over  to 
see  how  they  were  getting  along.  As  I  drew  near  I  heard 
the  most  astonishing  click-clack  of  axe-strokes,  shouts, 
laughter,  the  falling  of  trees,  and  when  I  came  in  sight  I 
4  trun  up  both  hands/  They  had  hundreds  of  cords  already 
cut — twice  as  much,  it  seemed,  as  I  could  use.  I  begged 
them  to  stop,  and  finally  got  them  to  begin  to  haul.  In 
the  end  I  was  obliged  to  take  sixty  cords  more  than  I 
needed. 

"  You  cannot  understand  what  a  pleasure  it  is  for  me  to 
see  ancient  lies  about  these  people  destroyed  by  such  ex- 
periences as  this.  It  was  pathetic  to  me  to  find  the  Two 
Horns,  the  Crawling  Elk,  and  other  proud  old  warriors  toil- 
ing awkwardly  with  their  axes,  their  small  hands  covered 
with  blisters ;  but  they  laughed  and  joked  about  it,  and  en- 
couraged each  other  as  if  they  were  New-Englanders  at  a 
husking-bee.  My  days  and  nights  are  full  of  trouble,  be- 
cause 1  can  do  so  little  for  them.  If  they  were  on  tillable 
land  I  could  make  them  self-supporting  in  two  years,  but  this 

60 


CURTIS  WRITES  A  LONG  LETTER 

land  is  arid  as  a  desert.     It  is  fair  to  look  upon,  but  it  will 
not  yield  a  living  to  any  one  but  a  herder. 

"  Your  attitude  towards  the  so-called  savage  races  troubles 
me  more  than  I  have  any  right  to  mention.  The  older  I 
grow  the  less  certain  I  am  that  any  race  or  people  has  a 
monopoly  of  the  virtues.  I  do  not  care  to  see  the  '  little 
peoples  '  of  the  world  civilized  in  the  sense  in  which  the  word 
is  commonly  used.  It  will  be  a  sorrowful  time  to  me  when 
all  the  tribes  of  the  earth  shall  have  cottonade  trousers  and 
derby  hats.  You,  as  an  artist,  ought  to  shrink  from  the 
dead  level  of  utilitarian  dress  which  the  English-speaking 
race  seems  determined  to  impose  on  the  world.  If  I  could, 
I  would  civilize  only  to  the  extent  of  making  life  easier  and 
happier — the  religious  beliefs,  the  songs,  the  native  dress — 
all  these  things  I  would  retain.  What  is  life  for,  if  not  for  this  ? 

"  My  artist  friends  as  a  rule  agree  with  me  in  these  matters, 
and  that  is  another  reason  why  your  unsympathetic  attitude 
surprises  and  grieves  me.  I  know  your  home-life  has  been 
such  as  would  prejudice  you  against  the  redman,  but  your 
training  in  Paris  should  have  changed  all  that.  You  con- 
sider the  Tetongs  '  good  material '  —  if  you  come  to  know 
them  as  I  do  you  will  find  they  are  folks,  just  like  anybody 
else,  with  the  same  rights  to  the  earth  that  we  have.  Of 
course,  they  are  crude  and  unlovely — and  sometimes  they 
are  cruel;  but  they  have  an  astonishing  power  over  those 
who  come  to  know  them  well. 

"  Pardon  this  long  letter.  You  may  call  me  a  crank  or 
any  hard  name  you  please,  but  I  am  anxious  to  have  you  on 
the  right  side  in  this  struggle,  for  it  is  a  struggle  to  the 
death.  The  tragedy  of  their  certain  extinction  overwhelms 
me  at  times.  I  found  a  little  scrap  ol  canvas  with  a  sketch 
of  Peta  on  it — may  1  keep  it?  My  sister  is  quite  well  and 
deep  in  '  the  work.'  She  often  speaks  of  you  and  we  are 
both  hoping  to  see  you  next  year." 

It  was  foolish  for  him  to  expect  an  immediate  reply 
to  this  epistle,  but  he  did — he  counted  the  days  which 
*  Si 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

lay  between  its  posting  and  a  possible  date  for  return 
mail.  Perhaps,  had  he  been  in  Washington,  diverted 
by  Congress,  cheered  by  the  Army  and  Navy  Club, 
and  entertained  by  his  friends,  he  would  not  have 
surrendered  so  completely  to  the  domination  of  that 
imperious  girl-face;  but  in  the  dead  of  winter,  sur- 
rounded by  ragged,  smoky  squaws  and  their  impa- 
tient, complaining  husbands,  with  no  companionship 
but  his  sister  and  Wilson,  the  love-sick  clerk,  his 
thought  in  every  moment  of  relaxation  went  back  to 
the  moments  he  had  spent  in  Elsie's  company.  Nat- 
ure cried  out,  "It  is  not  good  for  man  to  be  alone/' 
but  the  iron  ring  of  circumstance  held  him  a  pris- 
oner in  a  land  where  delicate  women  were  as  alien  as 
orange  blossoms  or  tea-roses. 

Outwardly  composed,  indefatigable,  stern  in  dis- 
cipline and  judicial  of  report,  he  was  inwardly  filled 
with  a  mighty  longing  to  see  again  that  slim  young 
girl  with  the  big,  black,  changeful  eyes.  He  made 
careful  attempt  to  conceal  his  growing  unrest  from 
Jennie,  but  her  sharp  eyes,  accustomed  to  every  change 
in  his  face,  detected  a  tremor  when  Elsie's  name  was 
mentioned,  and  her  ears  discovered  a  subtle  vibration 
in  his  voice  which  instructed  her,  though  she  did  not 
attain  complete  realization  of  his  absorbing  interest. 
She  was  sympathetic  enough  to  search  out  Elsie's 
name  in  the  social  columns  of  the  Washington 
papers,  and  it  was  pitiful  to  see  with  what  joy  the 
busy  Indian  agent  listened  to  the  brief  item  con- 
cerning "Miss  Brisbane's  reception  on  Monday/' 
or  the  description  of  her  dress  at  the  McCartney 
ball. 

Jennie  sighed  as  she  read  of  these  brilliant  assent 
82 


CURTIS  WRITES  A  LONG  LETTER 

blages.  "George,  I  wonder  if  we  will  ever  spend 
another  winter  in  Washington?" 

"Oh,  I  think  so,  sis — some  time." 

"Some  timel  But  we'll  both  be  so  old  we  won't 
enjoy  it.  Sometimes  I  feel  that  we  are  missing  ev- 
erything that's  worth  while/' 

He  did  not  mention  Elsie's  letter,  and  as  the  weeks 
passed  without  any  reply  he  was  very  glad  he  had 
kept  silence.  Jennie  had  her  secret,  also,  which  was 
that  Elsie  was  as  good  as  engaged  to  Lawson.  No 
one  knew  this  for  a  certainty,  but  Mrs.  Wilcox  was 
quite  free  to  say  she  considered  it  a  settled  thing. 

Jennie  was  relieved  to  know  how  indifferent  her 
brother  was  to  Miss  Colson,  the  missionary,  who 
seemed  to  be  undergoing  a  subtle  transformation. 
With  Jennie  she  was  always  moaning  and  sighing, 
but  in  the  presence  of  her  lord,  the  agent,  she  relaxed 
and  became  quite  cheerful  and  dangerously  pretty. 
The  other  teachers — good,  commonplace  souls  1 — went 
their  mechanical  way,  with  very  little  communica- 
tion with  the  agent's  household,  but  Miss  Colson 
seized  every  opportunity  to  escape  her  messmates. 
"They  are  so  material/'  she  said,  sighfully;  "they 
make  spiritual  growth  impossible  to  me/' 

Jennie  was  not  deceived.  "You're  a  cat,  that's 
what  you  are — a  nice,  little,  scared  cat;  but  you're 
getting  over  your  scare,"  she  added,  as  she  watched 
the  devotee  in  spirited  conversation  with  her  brother. 

Elsie's  reply  to  Curtis's  long  letter  was  studiedly 
cool  but  polite.  "I  feel  the  force  of  what  you  say, 
but  the  course  of  civilization  lies  across  the  lands  of 
the  'small  peoples/  It  is  sorrowful,  of  course,  but 
they  must  go,  like  the  wolves  and  the  rattlesnakes/1 

83 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

In  this  phrase  he  recognized  the  voice  of  Andrew  J. 
Brisbane,  and  it  gave  him  a  twinge  to  see  it  written 
by  Elsie's  small  hand.  The  letter  ended  by  leaving 
matters  very  adroitly  at  an  equipoise.  It  was  friend- 
lier than  she  had  ever  been  in  conversation,  yet  not  so 
womanly  as  he  had  hoped  it  might  be.  As  he  stud- 
ied it,  however,  some  subtler  sense  than  sight  de- 
tected in  its  carefully  compounded  phrases  some- 
thing to  feed  upon,  and  though  he  did  not  write  in 
answer  to  it,  he  had  a  feeling  that  she  expected  him 
to  do  so. 

Meanwhile  the  tone  of  the  opposition  grew  con- 
fident. The  settlers  were  convinced  that  Congress 
would  accede  to  their  wishes  and  remove  the  Tetongs, 
and  they  began  to  treat  the  redmen  with  a  certain 
good-natured  tolerance,  as  if  to  say,  "Well,  you'll 
soon  be  settled  for,  anyway." 

Calvin  Streeter  came  often  to  the  agency,  and  not 
infrequently  stayed  to  dinner  with  Curtis,  paying 
timid  court  to  Jennie,  who  retained  enough  of  her 
girlhood's  coquetry  to  enjoy  the  handsome  cowboy's 
open-eyed  admiration,  even  though  she  laughed  at 
him  afterwards  in  response  to  her  brother's  jesting. 
Calvin  vastly  improved  under  the  stress  of  his  desire 
to  be  worthy  of  her.  He  caught  up  many  of  the  Cap- 
tain's nice  mannerisms,  and  handled  his  fork  and 
napkin  with  very  good  grace  indeed.  He  usually 
came  galloping  across  the  flat,  his  horse  outstretched 
at  full  speed,  his  hat -rim  uprolled  by  the  wind, 
his  gay  neckerchief  fluttering,  his  hands  holding 
the  reins  high — a  magnificent  picture  of  powerful 
young  manhood.  As  he  reached  the  gate  it  was  his 
habit  to  put  his  horse  on  his  haunches  with  one  sud 


CURTIS  WRITES  A  LONG  LETTER 

den,  pitiless  wrench  on  the  Mexican  bit  and  drop  to 
the  ground,  and  in  dramatic  contrast  with  his  ap 
proach  call  out  in  smooth,  quiet  voice : 

"  Howdy,  folks,  howdy!     Nice  day." 

These  affectations  pleased  Jennie  very  much, 
though  she  finally  complained  of  his  cruelty  in  rein- 
ing in  his  horse  so  sharply. 

"All  right,  miss,  I  won't  do  it  no  more/'  he  said, 
instantly. 

He  quite  regularly  invited  them  to  the  dances  given 
round  about,  and  Jennie  was  ready  to  go,  but  Curtis, 
being  too  deeply  occupied,  could  not  spare  the  time, 
and  that  debarred  Jennie,  though  Calvin  could  see 
no  good  reason  why  it  should.  "I'll  take  care  of 
you/'  said  he,  but  the  girl  could  not  trust  herself  to 
his  protection. 

His  was  not  a  secretive  nature,  and  he  kept  Curtis 
very  well  informed  as  to  the  feeling  of  the  settlers, 
reporting,  as  he  did,  their  conversations  as  well  as 
their  speeches,  with  great  freedom  and  remarkable 
accuracy. 

In  this  way  the  agent  learned  that  the  cattlemen 
had  agreed  to  use  caution  in  dealing  with  him.  "  He's 
a  bad  man  to  monkey  with,"  was  the  sentiment  Cal- 
vin reported  to  be  current  among  the  settlers  on  the 
West  Fork.  Young  Crane's  Voice  also  circulated 
this  phrase,  properly  translated  into  Dakota,  to  his 
uncles  Lame  Paw  and  Two  Horns,  and  so  the  tribe 
came  to  understand  that  they  had  a  redoubtable 
defender  in  Swift  Eagle,  as  they  called  the  agent  in 
their  own  tongue. 

From  every  source  they  heard  good  things  of  him, 
and  they  came  to  love  him  and  to  obey  him  as  they 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

had  never  loved  and  obeyed  even  their  best-regarded 
chief.  The  squaws  made  excuse  to  come  in  and  shake 
hands  with  him  and  hear  his  laughter,  and  the  chil- 
dren no  longer  hid  or  turned  away  when  he  came 
near — on  the  contrary,  they  ran  to  him,  crying  "  Hel- 
lo, Hagent  1"  and  clung  to  his  legs  as  he  walked.  The 
old  men  often  laid  their  arms  across  his  shoulders  as 
they  jokingly  threatened  to  pull  out  the  hairs  of  his 
face,  in  order  to  make  him  a  redman.  His  lightest 
wish  was  respected.  The  wildest  young  dare  -  devil 
would  dismount  and  take  a  hand  at  pushing  a  wagon 
or  lifting  a  piece  of  machinery  when  Curtis  asked  it 
of  him. 

"  If  I  only  had  the  water  that  flows  in  these  three 
little  streams/'  he  often  said  to  Jennie,  "I'd  make 
these  people  self-supporting." 

"  We'll  have  things  our  own  way  yet/'  replied  Jen- 
nie, always  the  optimist. 


IX 

CALLED  TO  WASHINGTON 

ONE  day  Curtis  announced,  with  joyful  face: 
"Sis,  we  are  called  to  Washington.  Get  on 
your  bonnet!" 

She  did  not  light  up  as  he  had  expected  her  to  do. 
"  I  can't  go,  George/'  she  replied,  decisively  and  with- 
out marked  disappointment. 

He  seemed  surprised.     "  Why  not?" 

"Because  I  have  my  plans  all  laid  for  giving  my 
little  'ingines'  such  a  Christmas  as  they  never 
had,  and  you  must  manage  to  get  back  in  time  to  be 
'Sandy  Claws. '; 

"  I  don't  see  how  I  can  do  it.  I  am  to  appear  before 
the  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs  relative  to  this  re- 
moval plan,  and  there  may  be  other  business  requir- 
ing me  to  remain  over  the  holidays." 

"  I  don't  like  to  have  you  away.  I  suppose  you'll 
see  Mr.  Lawson  and  Miss  Brisbane,"  she  remarked, 
quietly,  after  a  pause. 

"  Oh  yes,"  he  replied,  with  an  assumption  of  care- 
lessness. "  I  imagine  Lawson  will  appear  before  the 
committee,  and  I  hope  to  call  on  Miss  Brisbane — I 
want  to  see  her  paintings."  He  did  not  meet  his  sis- 
ter's eyes  as  squarely  as  was  his  wont,  and  her  keen 
glance  detected  a  bit  more  color  in  his  face  than  was 

8? 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

usual  to  him.  "  You  must  certainly  call/'  she  finally 
said.  "  I  want  to  know  all  about  how  they  live." 

Many  things  combined  to  make  this  trip  to  Wash- 
ington most  pleasurable  to  the  soldier.  He  was 
weary  with  six  weeks  of  most  intense  application  to  a 
confused  and  vexatious  situation,  and  besides  he  had 
not  been  East  for  several  years,  and  his  pocket  was 
filled  with  urgent  invitations  to  dinner  from  fellow- 
officers  and  co-workers  in  science,  courtesies  which 
he  now  had  opportunity  to  accept;  but  back  of  all 
and  above  all  was  the  hope  of  meeting  Elsie  Brisbane 
again.  He  immediately  wrote  her  a  note,  telling  her 
of  his  order  to  report  at  the  department,  and  asking 
permission  to  call  upon  her  at  her  convenience. 

It  was  a  long  ride,  but  he  enjoyed  every  moment 
of  it.  He  gave  himself  up  to  rest.  He  went  regularly  to 
his  meals  in  the  dining-car ;  he  smoked  and  dreamed 
and  looked  out  with  impersonal,  shadowy  interest 
upon  the  flying  fields  and  the  whizzing  cities.  He 
slept  long  hours  and  rose  at  will.  Such  freedom  he 
had  known  only  on  the  trail;  here  luxury  was  com- 
bined with  leisure.  In  Chicago  a  friend  met  him  and 
they  lunched  at  a  luxurious  club,  and  af  terwards  went 
for  a  drive.  That  night  he  left  the  Western  metrop- 
olis behind  and  Washington  seemed  very  near. 

As  the  train  drew  down  out  of  the  snows  of  the  hill 
country  into  the  sunshine  and  shelter  of  the  Potomac 
Valley  his  heart  leaped.  This  was  home!  Here 
were  the  little,  whitewashed  cabins,  the  red  soil,  the 
angular  stone  houses — verandaed  and  shuttered — of 
his  native  town.  It  was  pleasant  to  meet  the  darkies 
swarming,  chirping  like  crickets,  around  the  train. 
They  shadowed  forth  a  warmer  clime,  a  less  insis- 

88 


CALLED    TO   WASHINGTON 

tent  civilization  than  that  of  the  West,  and  he  was 
glad  of  them.  They  brought  up  in  his  mind  a  thou- 
sand memories  of  his  boy-life  in  an  old  Maryland 
village  not  far  from  the  great  city,  which  still  re- 
tained its  supremacy  in  his  mind.  He  loved  Wash- 
ington ;  to  him  it  was  the  centre  of  national  life. 

The  great  generals,  the  great  political  leaders  were 
there,  and  the  greatest  ethnologic  bureau  in  all  the 
world  was  there,  arid  when  the  gleaming  monument 
came  into  view  over  the  wooded  hills  he  had  only  one 
regret — he  was  sorrowful  when  he  thought  of  Jennie 
far  away  in  the  bleak  valley  of  the  Elk. 

It  was  characteristic  of  him  that  he  took  a  cab  to 
the  Smithsonian  Society  rather  than  to  the  Army  and 
Navy  Club,  and  was  made  at  home  at  once  in  the 
plain  but  comfortable  "rooms  of  the  Bug  Sharps. " 
He  had  just  time  to  report  by  telephone  to  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Interior  before  the  close  of  the  official  day. 
Several  letters  awaited  him.  One  was  from  Elsie,  and 
this  he  read  at  once,  finding  it  unexpectedly  cordial : 

"  My  father  is  writing  you  an  invitation  to  come  to  us 
immediately.  You  said  you  would  arrive  in  Washington 
on  the  lyth,  either  on  the  II  A.M.  train  or  the  one  at  3  P.M. 
In  either  case  we  will  look  for  you  at  6.30  to  dine  with 
us  before  you  get  your  calendar  filled  with  engagements. 
I  shall  wait  impatiently  to  hear  how  you  are  getting  on  out 
there.  It  is  all  coming  to  have  a  strange  fascination  for  me. 
It  is  almost  like  a  dream/' 

This  letter  quickened  his  pulse  in  a  way  which 
should  have  brought  shame  to  him,  but  did  not.  The 
Senator's  letter  was  ponderously  polite.  "I  hope, 
my  dear  Captain  Curtis,  you  will  be  free  to  call  at 
once.  My  daughter  and  Lawson — " 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

At  that  word  a  chill  wind  blew  upon  the  agent's 
hope.  Lawson!  "I  had  forgotten  the  man!"  he 
said,  almost  aloud.  "Ah!  that  explains  her  frank 
kindliness.  She  writes  as  one  whose  affections  are 
engaged,  and  therefore  feels  secure  from  criticism 
or  misapprehension."  That  explained  also  her  feel- 
ing for  the  valley — it  was  the  scene  of  her  surrender 
to  Lawson.  The  tremor  went  out  of  his  nerves,  his 
heart  resumed  its  customary  beating,  steady  and 
calm,  and,  setting  his  lips  into  a  straight  line,  he  re- 
sumed the  Senator's  letter,  which  ended  with  these 
significant  words :  "  There  are  some  important  mat- 
ters I  want  to  talk  over  in  private." 

A  note  from  Lawson  urged  him  to  take  his  first 
breakfast  in  the  city  with  him.  "  I  want  to  post  you 
on  the  inside  meaning  of  certain  legislation  now  pend- 
ing. I  expect  to  see  you  at  the  Brisbanes'." 

Curtis  made  his  toilet  slowly  and  with  great  care, 
remitting  nothing  the  absence  of  which  would  in- 
dicate a  letting  down  of  military  neatness  and  dis- 
cipline. He  wore  the  handsome  undress  uniform  of 
a  captain,  and  his  powerful  figure,  still  youthful  in 
its  erectness,  although  the  lines  were  lees  slender 
than  he  wished,  was  dignified  and  handsome — fit  to 
be  taken  as  a  type  of  mature  soldier.  He  set  forth, 
self-contained  but  eager. 

The  Brisbane  portico  of  rose  granite  was  immense- 
ly imposing  to  a  dweller  in  tents  and  cantonments, 
such  as  Curtis  had  been  for  ten  years,  but  he  allowed 
no  sign  of  his  nervousness  to  appear  as  he  handed 
his  overcoat  and  cap  to  the  old  colored  man  in  the 
vestibule. 

As  he  started  down  the  polished  floor  of  the  wide 
90 


CALLED   TO  WASHINGTON 

hall,  stepping  over  a  monstrous  tiger-skin,  he  saw 
Elsie  in  the  door  of  the  drawing-room,  her  back  against 
the  folded  portiere.  Her  slender  figure  was  exquisite- 
ly gowned  in  pale-green,  and  her  color  was  irides- 
cent in  youthful  sparkle.  He  thought  once  again — 
"Evening  dress  transforms  a  woman/'  She  met 
him  with  a  smile  of  welcome. 

"  Ah,  Captain,  this  is  very  good  of  you,  to  come  to 
us  so  soon/' 

"Not  at  all/'  he  gallantly  replied.  "I  would  have 
come  sooner  had  opportunity  served/' 

"Father,  this  is  Captain  Curtis/'  she  said,  turning 
her  head  towards  a  tall  man  who  stood  within. 

Brisbane  came  forward,  greeting  Curtis  most  cord- 
ially. He  was  grayer  than  Curtis  remembered 
him,  and  a  little  stooping  from  age.  His  massive 
head  was  covered  with  a  close-clipped  bristle  of  white 
hair,  and  his  beard,  also  neatly  trimmed,  was  shaped 
to  a  point,  from  the  habit  he  had  of  stroking  it  with 
his  closed  left  hand  in  moments  of  deep  thought. 
His  skin  was  flushed  pink  with  blood,  and  his  ur- 
bane manner  denoted  pride  and  self-sufficiency.  He 
was  old,  but  he  was  still  a  powerful  personality,  and 
though  he  shook  hands  warmly,  Curtis  felt  his  keen 
and  penetrating  glance  as  palpably  as  an  electric 
shock. 

Lawson's  voice  arose.  "Well,  Captain,  I  hardly 
expected  to  see  you  so  soon." 

As  the  two  men  clasped  hands  Elsie  again  closely 
compared  them.  Curtis  was  the  handsomer  man, 
though  Lawson  was  by  no  means  ill-looking,  even  by 
contrast.  The  soldier  more  nearly  approached  the  ad- 
mirable male  type,  but  there  was  charm  in  the  char- 

91 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

acteristic  attitudes  and  gestures  of  the  student, who  had 
the  assured  and  humorous  manner  of  the  onlooker. 

A  young  woman  of  indeterminate  type  who  was 
seated  in  conversation  with  Mrs.  Wilcox  received 
Curtis  with  impassive  countenance,  eying  him  close- 
ly through  pinch-nose  glasses.  Mrs.  Wilcox  beamed 
with  pleasure,  and  inquired  minutely  concerning  the 
people  at  the  agency,  and  especially  she  wished  to 
know  how  little  Johnny  and  Jessie  Eagle  were.  "I 
quite  fell  in  love  with  the  tots,  they  were  so  cunning. 
I  hope  they  got  the  toys  I  sent." 

Brisbane  gave  Curtis  the  most  studious  attention, 
lounging  deep  in  his  big  chair.  Occasionally  he 
ponderously  leaned  forward  to  listen  to  some  remark, 
with  his  head  cocked  in  keen  scrutiny  —  actions 
which  did  not  escape  the  Captain's  notice.  "He's 
sizing  me  up/'  he  thought.  "Well,  let  him." 

Elsie  also  listened,  curiously  like  her  father  in  cer- 
tain inclinations  of  the  head — intent,  absorbed ;  only 
Lawson  seemed  indifferent  to  the  news  the  agent 
guardedly  recited. 

Brisbane  broke  his  silence  by  saying:  "I  infer 
you're  on  the  side  of  the  redskin?" 

"Decidedly,  in  this  connection/' 

"Quite  aside  from  your  duty?" 

"Entirely  so.  My  duty  in  this  case  happened  to 
be  my  inclination.  I  could  have  declined  the  detail, 
but  being  a  believer  in  the  army's  arrangement  of 
Indian  affairs,  I  couldn't  decently  refuse." 

Brisbane  settled  back  into  his  chair  and  looked 
straight  at  his  visitor. 

"  You  think  the  white  man  the  aggressor  in  this 
land  question?" 

92 


CALLED    TO   WASHINGTON 

Curtis  definitely  pulled  himself  up.  "I  am  not  at 
liberty  to  speak  further  on  that  matter." 

Mrs.  Wilcox  interrupted  smilingly.  "  Andrew,  don't 
start  an  argument  now.  Dinner  is  served,  and  I 
know  Captain  Curtis  is  hungry/' 

Elsie  rose.  "Yes,  papa,  leave  your  discussion  till 
some  other  time,  when  you  can  bang  the  furniture." 

Curtis  expected  to  take  Miss  Cooke  in  to  dinner, 
but  Elsie  delighted  him  by  saying,  "  You're  to  go  in 
with  me,  Captain." 

"I  am  very  glad  of  the  privilege,"  he  said,  with 
deliberate  intent  to  please  her;  his  sincerity  was  un- 
questionable. 

Curtis  would  have  been  more  profoundly  impressed 
with  the  spaciousness  of  the  hall  and  the  dining- 
room  had  they  been  less  like  the  interior  of  a  hotel. 
The  whole  house,  so  far  as  its  mural  decoration  went, 
had  the  over-stuffed  quality  of  a  Pullman  car  (with 
the  exception  of  the  pictures  on  the  walls,  which  were 
exceedingly  good),  for  Brisbane  had  successfully  op- 
posed all  of  Elsie's  new-fangled  notions  with  regard 
to  interior  decoration ;  he  was  of  those  who  insist  on 
being  masters  in  their  houses  as  well  as  in  their 
business  offices,  and  Elsie's  manner  was  that  of  an 
obedient  daughter  deferring  to  a  sire  who  had  not 
ceased  to  consider  her  a  child. 

Seated  at  Elsie's  right  hand,  with  Mrs.  Wilcox  be- 
tween himself  and  the  head  of  the  table,  Curtis  was 
fairly  out  of  reach  of  Brisbane,  who  was  clangerousty 
eager  to  open  a  discussion  concerning  the  bill  for  the 
removal  of  the  Tetongs. 

Elsie  turned  to  him  at  once  to  say :  "  Do  you  know, 
Captain  Curtis,  I  begin  to  long  to  return  to  the  West- 

93 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

All  my  friends  are  enthusiastic  over  the  studies  I 
made  last  year,  and  I've  decided  to  go  back  next 
spring.  How  early  could  one  come  out?" 

"Any  time  after  the  first  of  May — in  fact,  that  is 
the  most  beautiful  month  in  the  year;  the  grass  is 
deliciously  green  then.  I'm  glad  to  know  you  think 
of  returning.  Jennie  will  also  rejoice.  It  seems  too 
good  to  be  true.  Will  Mr.  Lawson  also  return?" 

"Oh  yes.  In  fact,  I  go  to  complete  his  work — to 
do  penance  for  neglecting  him  last  summer."  And 
in  her  tone,  he  fancied,  lay  a  covert  warning,  as 
though  she  had  said :  "  Do  not  mistake  me ;  I  am  not 
coming  out  of  interest  in  you." 

He  needed  the  word,  for  under  the  spell  of  her  near 
presence  and  the  charm  of  her  smile,  new  to  him, 
the  soldier  was  beginning  to  glow  again  and  to 
soften,  in  spite  of  his  resolution  to  be  very  calm. 

She  went  on :  "I  am  genuinely  remorseful,  because 
Mr.  Lawson  has  not  been  able  to  bring  his  paper  out 
as  he  had  planned." 

"I  will  see  that  you  have  every  possible  aid,"  he 
replied,  matter-of-factly.  "The  work  must  be  done 
soon." 

"How  handsome  he  is!"  the  girl  thought,  as  she 
studied  his  quiet  face.  "  His  profile  is  especially  fine, 
and  the  line  of  his  neck  and  shoulders —  "  an  impulse 
seized  her,  and  she  said : 

"  Captain,  I'd  like  to  make  a  sketch  of  you.  Could 
you  find  time  to  sit  for  me?" 

"That's  very  flattering  of  you,  but  I'm  afraid  my 
stay  in  Washington  is  too  short  and  too  preoccupied." 

Her  face  darkened.  "I'm  sorry.  I  know  I  could 
make  a  good  thing  of  you." 

94 


CALLED   TO  WASHINGTON 

"Thank  you  for  the  compliment,  but  it  is  out  of 
the  question  at  present.  Next  summer,  if  you  come 
out,  I  will  be  very  glad  to  give  the  time  for  it.  And 
that  reminds  me,  you  promised  to  show  me  your  pict- 
ures when  I  came,  and  your  studio." 

"Did  I?  Well,  you  shall  see  them,  although  they 
are  not  as  good  as  I  shall  do  next  year.  One  has 
to  learn  to  handle  new  material.  Your  Western  at- 
mosphere is  so  different  from  that  of  Giverney,  in 
which  we  all  paint  in  Paris;  then,  the  feeling  of  the 
landscape  is  so  different;  everything  is  so  firm  and 
crisp  in  line — but  I  am  going  to  get  it !  '  There  is  the 
mystery  of  light  as  well  as  of  the  dark/  Meunnot 
used  to  say  to  us,  and  if  I  can  get  that  clear  shimmer, 
and  the  vibration  of  the  vivid  color  of  the  savage  in 
the  midst  of  it—" 

She  broke  off  as  if  in  contemplation  of  the  problem, 
rapt  with  question  how  to  solve  it. 

"  There  speaks  the  artist  in  you,  and  it  is  fine. 
But  I'd  like  you  to  see  the  humanitarian  side  of  life, 
too/'  he  replied. 

"  There  is  none/'  she  instantly  replied,  with  a  curi- 
ous blending  of  defiance  and  amusement.  '"I  be- 
long to  the  world  of  Light  and  Might — " 

"And  I  to  the  world  of  Right— what  about  that?" 

"Light  and  Might  make  right." 

"Your  team  is  wrongly  harnessed  —  Light  and 
Right  are  co-workers.  Might  fears  both  Light  and 
Right." 

Mrs.  Wilcox,  who  had  been  listening,  fairly  clapped 
her  hands.  "  I'm  glad  to  have  you  refute  her  argu- 
ments, Captain.  She  is  absolutely  heartless  in  her 
theories — in  practice  she's  a  nice  girl." 

95 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

x, 

Elsie  laughed.  "What  amuses  me  is  that  a  sol- 
dier, the  embodiment  of  Might,  should  dare  to  talk  of 
Right." 

Curtis  grew  grave.  "If  I  did  not  think  that  my 
profession  at  bottom  guarded  the  rights  of  both  white 
men  and  red,  I'd  resign  instantly.  Our  army  is  only 
an  impartial  instrument  for  preserving  justice/' 

"That  isn't  the  old-world  notion,"  put  in  Lawson 
from  across  the  table. 

"It  is  our  notion/'  stoutly  replied  Curtis.  "Our 
little  army  to-day  stands  towards  the  whole  nation 
as  a  police  force  relates  itself  to  a  city — a  power  that 
interferes  only  to  prevent  aggression  of  one  interest 
on  the  rights  of  another/' 

Brisbane's  big,  flat  voice  took  up  the  theme. 

"  That's  a  very  pretty  theory,  but  you'll  find  plenty 
to  claim  that  the  army  is  an  instrument  of  oppres- 
sion." 

"I'll  admit  it  is  sometimes  wrongly  used,"  Curtis 
replied.  "We  who  are  in  the  field  can't  help  that, 
however.  We  are  under  orders.  Of  course,"  he  add- 
ed, modestly,  "  I  am  only  a  young  soldier.  I  have 
seen  but  ten  years  of  service,  and  I  have  taken  part  in 
but  one  campaign — a  war  I  considered  unavoidable 
at  that  time." 

"  You  would  hold,  then,  that  an  officer  of  the  army 
has  a  right  to  convictions?"  queried  Brisbane,  in  the 
tone  of  the  lawyer. 

"Most  certainly.  A  man  does  not  cease  to  think 
upon  entering  the  army." 

"That's  dangerous  doctrine." 

"  It's  the  American  idea.  What  people  would  suf. 
fer  by  having  its  army  intelligent?" 


CALLED   TO  WASHINGTON 

Lawson  coughed  significantly.  "Bring  forth  the 
black-swathed  axe — treason  has  upreared  her  head." 

It  was  plain  that  Brisbane  was  lying  in  wait  for 
him.  Curtis  whispered  to  Elsie : 

"Rescue  me!  Your  father  is  planning  to  quiz  me, 
and  I  must  not  talk  before  I  report  to  the  depart- 
ment." 

"I  understand.  We  will  go  to  my  studio  after 
dinner."  And  with  Lawson's  aid  she  turned  the 
conversation  into  safe  channels. 

It  was  a  very  great  pleasure  to  the  young  soldier 
to  sit  once  more  at  such  a  board  and  in  pleasant  re- 
lation to  Elsie.  It  was  more  than  he  had  ever  hoped 
for,  and  he  surprised  her  by  his  ability  to  take  on  her 
interests.  He  grew  younger  in  the  glow  of  her  own 
youth  and  beauty,  and  they  finished  their  ices  in  such 
good-fellowship  that  Mrs.  Wilcox  was  amazed. 

"  We  will  slip  away  now,"  Elsie  said,  in  a  low  tone 
to  Curtis,  and  they  both  rose.  As  they  were  about 
to  leave  the  room  Brisbane  looked  up  in  surprise. 
"Where  are  you  going?  Don't  you  smoke,  Captain? 
Stay  and  have  a  cigar/' 

Elsie  answered  for  him.  "Captain  Curtis  can 
come  back,  but  I  want  him  to  see  my  studio  now,  for 
I  know  if  you  get  to  talking  politics  he  will  miss  the 
pictures  altogether." 

"She  has  a  notion  I'm  growing  garrulous,"  Bris- 
bane retorted,  "  but  I  deny  the  charge.  Well,  let  me 
see  you  later,  Captain ;  there  are  some  things  I  want 
to  discuss  with  you." 

"Grace,  you  are  to  come,  too,"  Elsie  said  to  her 
girl  friend,  and  led  the  way  out  into  the  hall. 

Miss  Cooke  stepped  to  Curtis's  side.  "You've 
9  97 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

been  in  Washington  before?"  she  asked,  with  an  h> 
flection  which  he  hated. 

"Oh  yes,  many  times.  In  fact,  I  lived  here  till  I 
was  sixteen.  I  was  born  in  Maryland,  not  far  from 
here/' 

"  Indeed!     Then,  you  know  the  city  thoroughly?" 

"Certain  sides  of  it.  Exteriorly  and  officially  I 
know  it ;  socially,  I  am  a  stranger  to  it.  My  people 
were  proud  and  poor.  A  good  old  family  in  a  fine  old 
house,  and  very  little  besides/' 

Elsie  led  the  way  slowly  up  the  big  staircase,  se- 
cretly hoping  Miss  Cooke  would  find  it  too  cool  for 
her  thin  blood.  She  wished  to  be  alone  with  Curtis, 
and  this  wish,  obscure  as  it  was,  grew  stronger  as 
she  set  a  chair  for  him  and  placed  a  frame  on  an 
easel. 

"  You  really  need  daylight  to  see  them  properly/' 

"  Am  I  to  make  remarks?" 

"Certainly;  tell  me  just  what  you  think." 

"  Then  let  me  preface  my  helpful  criticisms  by  say- 
ing that  I  don't  know  an  earthly  thing  about  painting. 
We  had  drawing,  of  a  certain  kind,  at  the  academy, 
and  I  used  to  visit  the  galleries  in  New  York  when 
occasion  served.  Now  you  know  the  top  and  the 
bottom  of  my  art  education." 

"It's  cold  in  here,  Elsie,"  broke  in  Miss  Cooke, 
whom  they  had  quite  forgotten.  "Is  the  steam  turned 
on?" 

"  Wrap  my  slumber-robe  around  you,"  Elsie  care- 
lessly replied.  "  Now  here  is  my  completed  study  of 
Little  Peta.  What  do  you  think  of  that?  Is  it  like 
her?" 

"Very  like  her,  indeed.     I  think  it  excellent/'  he 


CALLED    TO  WASHINGTON 

said,  with  unaffected  enthusiasm.  "  She  was  a  quaint 
little  thing.  She  is  about  to  be  married  to  young 
Two  Horns — a  white  man's  wedding." 

Elsie's  eyes  glowed.  "Oh,  I  wish  I  could  see  that! 
But  don't  let  her  wear  white  man's  clothing.  She'd 
be  so  cunning  in  her  own  way  of  dress.  I  wish  she 
had  not  learned  to  chew  gum/' 

"None  of  us  quite  live  up  to  our  best  intentions/' 
he  replied,  laughing.  "Peta  thinks  she's  gaining 
in  grace.  Most  of  the  white  ladies  she  knows  chew 
gum." 

The  pictures  were  an  old  story  to  Miss  Cooke,  who 
shivered  for  a  time  in  silence  and  at  last  withdrew. 
Elsie  and  Curtis  were  deep  in  discussion  of  the  effect 
of  white  man's  clothing  on  the  Tetongs,  but  each  was 
aware  of  a  subtle  change  in  the  other  as  the  third 
person  was  withdrawn.  A  delicious  sense  of  danger, 
of  inward  impulse  warring  with  outward  restraint, 
added  zest  to  their  intercourse.  He  instantly  re- 
called the  last  time  he  stood  in  her  studio  feeling 
her  frank  contempt  of  him.  "  I  am  on  a  different  foot- 
ing now/'  he  thought,  with  a  certain  exultation.  It 
was  worth  years  of  hardship  and  hunger  and  cold  to 
stand  side  by  side  with  a  woman  who  had  not  merely 
beauty  and  wealth  but  talent,  and  a  mysterious  qual- 
ity that  was  more  alluring  than  beauty  or  intellect. 
What  this  was  he  could  not  tell,  but  it  had  already 
made  life  a  new  game  to  him." 

She,  on  her  part,  exulted  with  a  sudden  sense  of 
having  him  to  herself  for  experiment,  and  every  mo- 
tion of  his  body,  every  tone  of  his  voice  she  noted 
and  admired. 

He  resumed :  "  Naturally,  I  can  say  nothing  of  the 
99 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

technique  of  these  pictures.  My  praise  of  them  must 
be  on  the  score  of  their  likeness  to  the  people.  They 
are  all  admirable  portraits,  exact  and  spirited,  and 
yet — "  He  hesitated,  with  wrinkled  brows. 

"Don't  spare  me!"  she  cried  out.  "Cut  me  up  if 
you  can!" 

"  Well,  then,  they  seem  to  me  unsympathetic.  For 
example,  the  best  of  them  all  is  Peta,  because  you 
liked  her,  you  comprehended  her,  partly,  for  she  was 
a  child,  gentle  and  sweet.  But  you  have  painted  old 
Crawling  Elk  as  if  he  were  a  felonious  mendicant. 
You've  delineated  his  rags,  his  wrinkled  skin,  his 
knotted  hands,  but  you've  left  the  light  out  of  his 
eyes.  Let  me  tell  you  something  about  that  old  man. 
When  I  saw  him  first  he  was  sitting  on  the  high  bank 
of  the  river,  motionless  as  bronze,  and  as  silent.  He 
was  mourning  the  loss  of  his  little  grandchild,  and 
had  been  there  two  days  and  two  nights  wailing  till 
his  voice  had  sunk  to  a  whisper.  His  rags  were  a 
sign  of  his  utter  despair.  You  didn't  know  that 
when  you  painted  him,  did  you?" 

"No,  I  did  not,"  she  replied,  softly. 

"  Moreover,  Crawling  Elk  is  the  annalist  and  story- 
teller of  his  tribe.  He  carries  the  '  winter  count '  and 
the  sacred  pipe,  and  can  tell  you  of  every  movement 
of  the  Tetongs  for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half. 
His  mind  is  full  of  poetry,  and  his  conceptions  of  the 
earth  and  sky  are  beautiful.  He  knows  little  thati 
white  men  know,  and  cares  for  very  little  that  the* 
white  man  fights  for,  but  his  mind  teems  with  lore 
of  the  mysterious  universe  into  which  he  has  been 
thrust,  and  which  he  has  studied  for  seventy-two 
years.  In  the  eyes  of  God,  I  am  persuaded  there  is 

100 


CALLED   TO   WASHINGTON 

no  very  wide  difference  between  old  Crawling  Elk 
and  Herbert  Spencer.  The  circle  of  Spencer's  knowl- 
edge is  wider,  but  it  is  as  far  from  including  the  in- 
finite as  the  redman's  story  of  creation.  Could  you 
understand  the  old  man  as  I  do,  you  would  forget  his 
rags.  He  would  loom  large  in  the  mysterious  gloom 
of  life.  Your  painting  is  as  prejudiced  in  its  way  as 
the  description  which  a  cowboy  would  give  you  of  this 
old  man.  You  have  given  the  color,  the  picturesque 
qualities  of  your  subjects,  but  you  have  forgotten 
that  they  are  human  souls,  groping  for  happiness  and 

light." 

As  he  went  on,  Elsie  stared  at  the  picture  fixedly, 
and  it  changed  under  her  glance  till  his  deeply  pas- 
sionate words  seemed  written  on  the  canvas.  The 
painting  ceased  to  be  a  human  face  and  became  a 
mechanical  setting  together  of  features,  a  clever  de- 
lineation of  the  exterior  of  a  ragged  old  man  holding 
a  beaded  tobacco-pouch  and  a  long  red  pipe. 

"This  old  'beggar/"  Curtis  continued,  "never 
lights  that  pipe  you  have  put  in  his  hands  without 
blowing  a  whiff  to  the  great  spirits  seated  at  the  car- 
dinal points  of  the  compass.  He  makes  offerings  for 
the  health  of  his  children — he  hears  voices  in  the 
noonday  haze.  He  sits  on  the  hill-top  at  dawn  to 
commune  with  the  spirits  over  his  head.  As  a  beggar 
he  is  picturesque ;  as  a  man,  he  is  bewildered  by  the 
changes  in  his  world,  and  sad  with  the  shadow  of  his 
children's  future.  All  these  things,  and  many  more, 
you  must  learn  before  you  can  represent  the  soul  of 
the  redman.  You  can't  afford  to  be  unjust." 

She  was  deeply  affected  by  his  words.  They  held 
conceptions  new  to  her.  But  his  voice  pierced  her, 

101 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

strangely  subdued  her.  It  quivered  with  an  emotion 
which  she  could  not  understand.  Why  should  he 
care  so  much  whether  she  painted  her  subjects  well 
or  ill?  She  was  seized  with  sudden,  bitter  distrust. 

"I  wish  I  had  not  shown  you  my  studies,"  she 
said,  resentfully. 

His  face  became  anxious,  his  voice  gentle.  "I 
beg  your  pardon;  I  have  presumed  too  far.  I  hope, 
Miss  Brisbane,  you  will  not  take  what  I  say  too  much 
to  heart.  Indeed,  you  must  not  mind  me  at  all.  I 
am,  first  of  all,  a  sort  of  crank ;  and  then,  as  I  say, 
I  don't  know  a  word  about  painting;  please  forget 
my  criticisms." 

She  understood  his  mood  now.  His  anxiety  to 
regain  her  good-will  was  within  her  grasp,  and  she 
seized  the  opportunity  to  make  him  plead  for  himself 
and  exonerate  her. 

"You  have  torn  my  summer's  work  to  flinders/' 
she  said,  sullenly,  looking  down  at  a  bit  of  charcoal 
she  was  grinding  into  the  rug  beneath  her  feet. 

He  was  aghast.  "Don't  say  that,  I  beg  of  you! 
Good  Heavens!  don't  let  my  preachment  discourage 
you.  You  see,  I  have  two  or  three  hobbies,  and  when 
I  am  once  mounted  I'm  sure  to  ride  right  over  some- 
body's garden  wall."'  He  rose  and  approached  her. 
"I  shall  never  forgive  myself  if  I  have  taken  away 
the  smallest  degree  of  your  enthusiasm.  My  aim— - 
if  I  had  an  aim — was  to  help  you  to  understand  my 
people,  so  that  when  you  come  out  next  summer — " 

"All  that  is  ended  now,"  she  said,  sombrely.  "I 
shall  attempt  no  more  Indian  work!" 

This  silenced  him.  He  took  time  to  consider  what 
this  sudden  depression  on  her  part  meant.  As  he 

102 


CALLED   TO   WASHINGTON 

studied  her  he  saw  her  lip  quiver,  and  anxiety  sud- 
denly left  him.  His  tone  was  laughter-filled  as  he 
called:  "Come,  now,  Miss  Brisbane,  you're  making 
game  of  me  by  taking  my  criticisms  so  solemnly.  I 
can  see  a  smile  twitching  your  lips  this  moment. 
Look  at  mel" 

She  looked  up  and  broke  into  a  laugh.  He  joined 
in  with  her,  but  a  flush  rose  to  his  face. 

"You  fooled  me  completely.  I  reckon  you  should 
have  been  an  actress  instead  of  a  painter/' 

She  sobered  a  little.  "  Really,  I  was  depressed  for 
a  moment.  Your  tone  was  so  terribly  destructive. 
Shall  we  go  down?" 

"  Not  till  you  say  you'll  forgive  me  and  forget  my 
harangue."- 

She  gave  him  her  hand.  "I'll  forgive  you,  but 
I'm  going  to  remember  the  harangue.  I  —  rather 
liked  it.  It  made  me  think.  Strange  to  say,  I  like 
people  who  make  me  think." 

Again  his  heart  leaped  with  the  blood  of  exultant 
youth.  "She  is  coming  to  understand  me  better  1" 
he  thought 

"You  must  see  my  other  pictures  by  daylight," 
she  was  saying.  "Mr.  Lawson  likes  this  one  par- 
ticularly." They  had  moved  out  into  the  little  re- 
ception-room. "  I  did  it  in  Giverney — we  all  go  down 
sooner  or  later  to  paint  one  of  Monet's  pollard  wil- 
lows. These  are  my  '  stunts/  " 

Lawson  I  Yes,  there  was  the  secret  of  her  increas- 
ing friendliness.  As  the  fiancee  of  Lawson  she  could 
afford  to  lessen  her  reserve  towards  his  friend. 

And  so  it  happened  that,  notwithstanding  her  cord- 
ial welcome  and  her  respectful  consideration  of  his 

103 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

criticism,  he  went  away  with  a  feeling  of  disappoint- 
ment. That  her  beauty  was  more  deeply  enthralling 
than  he  had  hitherto  realized  made  his  discuiet  all 
the  greater.  As  he  stepped  out  upon  the  street,  she 
seemed  as  insubstantial  as  a  dream  of  his  imagina- 
tive youth,  far  separated  from  any  reality  with  which 
he  had  any  durable  association. 


X 

CURTIS  AT  HEADQUARTERS 


was  frankly  exclamatory  at  the  size  and 
splendor  of  Lawson's  apartments.  He  had 
accepted  the  invitation  to  take  breakfast  with  him 
without  much  thought  as  to  the  quality  of  the  break- 
fast or  where  it  would  be  eaten,  until  he  found 
himself  entering  the  hall  of  a  superb  apartment 
hotel. 

"Why,  see  here,  Lawson,"  he  exclaimed,  as  he 
looked  about  his  friend's  suite,  "  this  is  too  much  for 
any  bachelor  —  it's  baronial!  I  must  revise  my  judg- 
ments. I  had  a  notion  you  were  a  hard-working 
ethnologic  sharp." 

"So  I  am/'  replied  Lawson,  smiling  with  frank 
enjoyment  of  his  visitor's  amazement.  "I've  been 
at  work  two  hours  at  my  desk.  If  you  don't  believe 
it,  there's  the  desk." 

The  room  was  filled  with  books,  cases  of  antique 
pottery,  paintings  of  Indians,  models  of  Pueblo  dwell- 
ings, and  other  things  in  keeping,  and  was  made  rich 
in  color  by  a  half-dozen  very  choice  Navajo  blankets 
in  the  fine  old  weaves  with  the  vegetable  dyes  so  dear 
to  the  collector.  The  long  table  was  heaped  with 
current  issues  of  the  latest  magazines,  and  dozens  of 
books,  with  markers  set  to  guard  some  valuable  pas- 

105 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

sages,  were  piled  within  reach.  It  was  plainly  the 
library  of  a  student  and  man  of  letters. 

Lawson's  lean,  brown  face  at  once  assumed  a  differ- 
ent aspect  to  Curtis.  It  became  more  refined,  more 
scholarly,  and  distinctly  less  shrewd  and  quizzical, 
and  the  soldier  began  to  understand  the  writer's 
smiling  defiance  of  Western  politicians  and  million- 
aire cattle-owners.  Plainly  a  man  of  large  fortune, 
with  high  social  connections,  what  had  Lawson  to 
fear  of  the  mountain  West?  The  menace  of  the 
greedy  cattlemen  troubled  him  no  more  than  the 
howl  of  the  blizzard. 

In  the  same  measure  that  Lawson 's  power  was 
revealed  to  him  the  heart  of  the  agent  sank.  He 
could  not  but  acknowledge  that  here  was  the  fitting 
husband  and  proper  home  for  Elsie — "while  I,"  he 
thought,  "have  only  a  barrack  in  a  desolate  Indian 
country  to  offer  her/'  and  he  swung  deep  in  the  trough 
of  his  sea  of  doubt. 

A  map  on  the  wall,  lined  with  red,  caught  his 
eye,  and  he  seized  upon  it  for  diversion. 

"What  is  this?"  he  asked. 

"That's  my  trail- map/'  replied  Lawson.  "The 
red  lines  represent  my  wanderings." 

Curtis  studied  it  with  expert  eyes.  "You  have 
ploughed  the  Arizona  deserts  pretty  thoroughly." 

"  Yes,  Fve  spent  three  summers  down  in  that  coun- 
try studying  cliff-dwellings.  It's  a  mighty  alluring 
region.  Last  summer  I  broke  away  and  got  back 
into  the  north,  but  I  am  greatly  taken  with  the  hot 
sunshine  and  loneliness  of  the  desert." 

Curtis  turned  sharply.  "  What  I  can't  understand, 
Lawson,  is  this:  How  can  you  pull  up  and  leave 

106 


CURTIS  AT  HEADQUARTERS 

such  a  home?" — he  indicated  the  room  with  a  sweep 
of  his  hand  —  "  and  go  out  on  the  painted  desert  or 
down  the  Chaco  and  swelter  in  the  heat  like  a  horned 
toad?" 

Lawson  smiled.  "It  is  absurd,  isn't  it?  Man's 
an  unaccountable  beast.  But  come!  Breakfast  is 
waiting,  and  I  hope  you're  hungry." 

The  dining-room  was  built  on  a  scale  with  the 
library,  and  the  mahogany  table,  sparsely  covered 
with  dishes,  looked  small  and  lonely  in  the  midst  of 
the  shining  floor.  This  feature  of  the  beautiful  room 
impressed  Curtis,  and  as  they  took  seats  opposite 
each  other  he  remarked,  "If  I  were  not  here  you 
would  be  alone?" 

"Yes,  quite  generally  I  breakfast  alone.  I  enter- 
tain less  than  you  would  think.  I'm  a  busy  man 
when  at  home." 

"Well,  the  waste  of  room  is  criminal,  Lawson, 
that's  all  I  have  to  say — criminal.  You'll  be  called 
upon  to  answer  for  it  some  time." 

"I've  begun  to  think  so  myself,"  replied  the  host, 
significantly. 

They  talked  mountain  ranges  and  Pueblo  dwellers, 
and  the  theoretical  relation  of  the  mound-builders  to 
the  small,  brown  races  of  the  Rio  Grande  Valley, 
touching  also  on  the  future  of  the  redman;  and  all 
the  while  Curtis  was  struggling  with  a  benumbing 
sense  of  his  hopeless  weakness  in  the  face  of  a  rival 
like  Lawson.  He  gave  up  all  thought  of  seeing 
Elsie  again,  and  resolutely  set  himself  to  do  the  work 
before  him,  eager  to  return  to  his  duties  in  the  West- 
ern foot-hills. 

Lawson  accompanied  him  to  the  Interior  Depart 
107 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

ment  and  introduced  him  to  the  Secretary,  who  had 
the  preoccupied  air  of  a  business  man  rather  than  the 
assumed  leisure  of  the  politician.  He  shook  hands 
warmly,  and  asked  his  visitors  to  be  seated  while  he 
finished  a  paper  in  hand.  At  last  he  turned  and 
pleasantly  began: 

"Fm  glad  to  meet  you,  Captain.  Yours  is  a  dis- 
tinguished name  with  us.  We  fully  recognize  the 
value  of  your  volunteer  service,  and  hope  to  make 
the  best  use  of  you.  Our  mutual  friend,  Lawson 
here,  threatens  to  make  you  Secretary  in  my  stead." 
Here  he  looked  over  his  spectacles  with  a  grave  and 
accusing  air,  which  amused  Lawson  greatly. 

"  Not  so  bad  as  that,  Mr.  Secretary/'  he  laughed. 
"  I  merely  suggested  that  Captain  Curtis  would  make 
an  excellent  President/' 

"Oh,  well,  it  all  comes  to  the  same  thing/'  He 
then  became  quite  serious.  "  Now,  Captain,  I  would 
suggest  that  you  put  this  whole  matter  as  you  see  it, 
together  with  your  recommendations,  into  the  briefest, 
most  telling  form  possible,  and  be  ready  to  come  be- 
fore the  committee  to-morrow.  Confer  with  the  com- 
missioner and  be  ready  to  meet  the  queries  of  the  op- 
position. Brisbane  is  behind  the  cattlemen  in  this 
controversy,  and  he  is  a  strong  man.  I  agree  entirely 
with  you  and  Lawson  that  the  Tetongs  should  re- 
main where  they  are  and  be  helped  in  the  way  you 
suggest.  Be  ready  with  computations  of  th«  cost  of 
satisfying  claims  of  the  settlers,  building  ditches, 
etc.  Come  and  see  me  again  before  you  return. 
Good-morning/'  and  he  bent  to  his  desk  with  instant 
absorption. 

Lawson  again  led  the  way  across  the  square  in 
108 


CURTIS   AT  HEADQUARTERS 

search  of  the  commissioner's  office.  The  large, 
bare  waiting-room  was  filled  with  a  dozen  or  more 
redmen,  all  wearing  new  blue  suits  and  wide  black 
hats.  They  were  smoking  in  contemplative  silence, 
with  only  an  occasional  word  spoken  in  undertone. 
It  was  plain  they  were  expecting  an  audience  with 
the  great  white  chief. 

Several  of  them  knew  Lawson  and  cried  out :  "  Ho  1 
Ho!"  coming  up  one  by  one  to  shake  hands,  but  they 
glowed  with  pleasure  as  Curtis  began  to  sign-talk 
with  them. 

"  Who  are  you?"  he  asked  of  one.  "  Oh!  Northern 
Cheyenne — I  thought  so.  And  you — you  are  Apache?" 
he  said  to  another.  "  I  can  tell  that,  too.  What  are 
you  all  waiting  for?  To  see  the  commissioner?  Have 
you  had  a  good  visit?  Yes,  I  see  you  have  nice  new 
suits.  The  government  is  good  to  you — sometimes." 
They  laughed  at  his  sharp  hits.  "  Well,  don't  stay 
too  long  here.  The  white  man  will  rob  you  of  your 
good  clothes.  Be  careful  of  fire-water." 

One  old  man,  whose  gestures  were  peculiarly  flow- 
ing and  dignified,  thereupon  signed:  "When  the 
white  man  come  to  buy  our  lands  we  are  great  chiefs 
— very  tall;  when  we  ask  for  our  money  to  be  paid 
to  us,  then  we  are  small,  like  children."  This 
caused  a  general  laugh,  in  which  Curtis  joined.  They 
all  wanted  to  know  who  he  was,  and  he  told  them. 
"Ah!  we  are  glad  for  the  Tetongs.  They  have  a 
good  man.  Tell  the  commissioner  we  are  anxious 
to  council  and  go  home — we  are  weary  of  this  place." 

Lawson,  meanwhile,  had  entered  the  office  and 
now  reappeared.  "  Mr.  Brown  will  see  you  at  once, 
Captain." 

109 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

The  acting  commissioner  wore  the  troubled  look 
of  a  man  sorely  overworked  and  badly  badgered. 
He  breathed  a  sigh  of  ostentatious  relief  as  he  faced 
his  two  visitors,  who  came  neither  to  complain  nor  to 
ask  favors.  He  studied  Curtis  contemplatively,  his 
pale  face  set  in  sad  lines. 

'Tin  leaning  on  you  in  this  Tetong  business/'  he 
began.  "I  have  so  many  similar  fights  all  over  the 
West,  I  can't  give  you  the  attention  you  deserve.  It 
seems  as  though  our  settlers  were  insane  over  Indian 
lands.  I  honestly  believe,  if  we  should  lay  out  a  res- 
ervation on  the  staked  plains  there  'd  be  a  mad  rush 
for  it.  'The  Injun  has  it — let's  take  it  away  from 
him/  seems  to  be  the  universal  cry.  I  am  pestered 
to  death  with  schemes  for  cutting  down  reservations 
and  removing  tribes.  It  would  seem  as  if  these  poor, 
hunted  devils  might  have  a  thumb-nail's  breadth 
of  the  continent  they  once  entirely  owned;  but  no, 
so  long  as  an  acre  exists  they  are  liable  to  attack. 
I'm  worn  out  with  the  attempt  to  defend  them.  I'll 
have  nervous  prostration  or  something  worse  if  this 
pressure  continues.  Yesterday  nearly  finished  me. 
What  kind  of  pirates  do  you  raise  out  there,  anyway?" 

Curtis  listened  with  amazement  to  this  frank  avow- 
al, but  Lawson  only  laughed,  saying,  in  explanation : 
"  This  is  one  of  the  commissioner's  poor  days.  He'll 
fight  till  the  last  ditch—" 

"Irrigating  ditch!"  supplemented  the  commission- 
er. "  Yes,  there's  another  nightmare.  Beautiful  com- 
plication! The  government  puts  the  Indian  on  a 
reservation  so  dry  that  water  won't  run  down  hill, 
and  then  Lawson  or  some  other  friend  of  the  Indian 
comes  in  here  and  insists  on  irrigating  ditches  being 

1 10 


CURTIS  AT  HEADQUARTERS 

put  in,  and  then  I  am  besieged  by  civil  engineers  for 
jobs,  and  wild-eyed  contractors  twist  my  door-knobs 
off.  Captain  Curtis,  keep  out  of  the  Indian  service 
if  you  have  any  conscience/' 

"That's  exactly  why  I  recommended  him/'  said 
Lawson — "because  he  has  a  conscience/' 

"  It  '11  shorten  his  life  ten  years  and  do  no  material 
good.  Well,  now,  about  this  Tetong  imbroglio." 

Immediately  he  fell  upon  the  problem  with  the 
most  intense  application,  and  Curtis  had  a  feeling 
that  his  little  season  of  plain  speaking  had  refreshed 
him. 

Lawson  went  his  way,  but  Curtis  spent  the  remain- 
der of  the  day  in  the  commissioner's  office,  putting 
together  his  defence  of  the  Tetongs,  compiling  fig- 
ures, and  drawing  maps  to  show  the  location  of  grass 
and  water.  He  did  not  rise  from  his  work  till  the  sig- 
nal for  closing  came,  and  even  then  he  gathered  his 
papers  together  and  took  them  home  to  his  room  in 
the  club  in  order  to  put  the  finishing  touches  to  them. 

While  dressing  for  his  dinner  with  Lieutenant 
Kirkman,  a  classmate  and  comrade,  he  began  to  won- 
der how  soon  he  could  decently  make  his  dinner-call 
on  the  Brisbanes.  It  was  shameful  in  him,  of  course, 
but  he  had  suddenly  lost  interest  in  the  Kirkmans. 
The  day  seemed  lost  because  he  had  not  been  able  to 
see  Elsie.  There  was  a  powerful  longing  in  his  heart, 
an  impatience  which  he  had  not  experienced  since 
his  early  manhood.  It  was  a  hunger  which  had 
lain  dormant — scotched  but  not  killed — for  now  it 
rose  from  its  mysterious  lair  with  augmented  power 
to  break  his  rest  and  render  all  other  desires  of  no 
account. 

ill 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

That  night,  after  he  returned  from  the  Kirkmans', 
where  he  had  enjoyed  an  exquisite  little  dinner  amid 
a  joyous  chatter  reviving  old-time  memories,  he  found 
himself  not  merely  wide-awake,  but  restless.  His 
brain  seemed  determined  to  reveal  itself  to  him  com- 
pletely. Pictures  of  his  early  life  and  the  faces  and 
homes  of  his  friends  in  the  West  came  whirling  in 
orderless  procession  like  flights  of  swift  birds — now 
a  council  with  the  Sioux ;  now  a  dinner  of  the  staff  of 
General  Miles;  visions  of  West  Point,  a  flock  of  them, 
came  also,  and  the  faces  of  the  girls  he  had  loved 
with  a  boy's  fancy;  and  then,  as  if  these  were  but 
whisks  of  cloud  scattering,  the  walls  of  great  moun- 
tain ranges  appeared  behind,  stern  and  majestic, 
sunlit  for  a  moment,  only  to  withdraw  swiftly  into 
gray  night ;  and  when  he  seized  upon  these  sweeping 
fragments  and  attempted  to  arrange  them,  Elsie's 
proud  face,  with  its  dark,  changeful  eyes  and  beauti- 
ful, curving  lips,  took  central  place,  and  in  the  end 
obscured  all  the  rest. 

The  Kirkman  home,  the  cheer,  the  tenderness  of 
the  husband  towards  his  dainty  little  wife,  the  obvious 
rest  and  satisfaction  of  the  man,  betokening  that  the 
ultimate  of  his  desires  had  been  reached,  also  came  in 
for  consideration  by  the  restless  brain  of  the  soldier- 
mountaineer.  "I  shall  never  be  at  peace  till  I  have 
wife  and  child,  that  I  now  realize,"  he  acknowledged  to 
himself  in  the  deep,  solitary  places  of  his  thought. 

Then  he  rose  and  took  up  the  papers  which  he 
had  been  preparing,  and  as  he  went  over  them  again 
he  came  to  profounder  realization  than  ever  before 
of  the  mighty  tragedy  whose  final  act  he  seemed 
about  to  witness.  His  heart  swelled  with  a  great 

112 


CURTIS  AT  HEADQUARTERS 

tenderness  towards  that  fragment  of  a  proucf  and  free 
people  who  sat  in  wonder  before  the  coming  of  an 
infinite  flood  of  alien  races,  helpless  to  stay  it,  appalled 
by  the  breadth  and  power  of  the  stream  which  swept 
them  away.  He  felt  himself  in  some  sense  their 
chosen  friend — their  Moses,  to  lead  them  out  of  the 
desolation  in  which  they  sat  bewildered  and  despair- 
ing. Thinking  of  them  and  of  plans  to  help  them,  he 
grew  weary  at  last,  his  brain  ceased  to  grind,  and 
he  slept 


XI 

CURTIS  GRAPPLES  WITH  BRISBANE 

THE  hearing  took  place  at  ten  o'clock,  but  Cur* 
tis  had  opportunity  for  a  little  helpful  consul- 
tation with  Lawson  before  the  chairman  called  the 
committeemen  to  order.  The  session  seemed  unim- 
portant— perfunctory.  The  members  sat  for  the  most 
part  silent,  ruminating,  with  eyes  fixed  on  the  walls 
or  upon  slips  of  paper  which  they  held  abstractedly 
in  their  hands.  Occasionally  some  one  of  them  would 
rouse  up  to  ask  a  question,  but,  in  general,  their  atti- 
tudes were  those  of  bored  and  preoccupied  business 
men.  They  came  and  went  carelessly  in  response  to 
calls  of  their  clerks,  and  Curtis  perceived  that  they 
had  very  little  real  interest  in  the  life  or  death  of  the 
redmen.  He  would  have  been  profoundly  discour- 
aged had  not  the  chairman  been  alert  and  his  ques- 
tions to  the  point.  After  his  formal  statement  had 
been  taken  and  the  hearing  was  over,  the  chairman 
approached  Curtis  informally  and  showed  a  very  hu- 
man sympathy  for  the  Tetongs. 

"Yes,  I  think  we  can  hold  this  raid  in  check/'  he 
said,  in  answer  to  Curtis,  and  added,  slowly,  "I  am 
very  glad  to  find  a  man  of  your  quality  taking  up  this 
branch  of  service."  He  paused,  and  a  smile  wrinkled 
his  long,  Scotch  face.  "They  accuse  me  of  being  a 

114  " 


CURTIS    GRAPPLES   WITH   BRISBANE 

weak  sentimentalist,  because  I  refuse  to  consider  the 
redman  in  the  light  of  a  reptile.  I  was  an  abolition- 
ist " — the  smile  faded  from  his  eyes  and  his  thin  lips 
straightened — "in  days  when  it  meant  something  to 
defend  the  negro,  and  in  standing  for  the  rights  of 
the  redman  I  am  merely  continuing  my  life-work.  It 
isn't  a  question  of  whether  I  know  the  Indian  or  not, 
though  I  know  him  better  than  most  of  my  critics; 
it's  a  question  of  his  dues  under  our  treaties.  We 
considered  him  a  man  when  we  bought  his  land,  and 
I  insist  he  shall  be  treated  the  same  now.  I  should 
like  to  hear  from  you — unofficially,  of  course — when- 
ever you  have  anything  to  say.  Lawson's  testimony  " 
—he  laid  a  caressing  hand  on  Lawson's  shoulder — "is 
worth  more  to  me  than  that  of  a  thousand  land  spec- 
ulators. He's  a  comfort  to  us,  for  we  know  he  is  dis- 
interested, and  has  nothing  to  gain  or  lose  in  any 
question  which  concerns  the  reds,  and  we  find  very 
much  the  same  about  you,  Captain  Curtis,  and  I  am 
determined  that  you  shall  have  free  hand." 

Curtis  shook  hands  with  the  old  man  with  a  sense 
of  security.  Here,  at  least,  was  a  senator  of  the  old 
school,  a  man  to  be  depended  upon  in  time  of  trouble. 
He  began  also  to  realize  Lawson's  power,  for  he 
seemed  to  be  the  personal  friend  of  every  honest  offi- 
cial connected  with  the  department. 

As  the  two  young  men  stepped  out  into  the  hall 
they  came  face  to  face  with  Elsie  and  her  father. 

"Are  we  too  late?"  cried  the  girl.  "Is  the  hearing 
over?" 

"My  part  of  it  is,"  answered  Curtis — "at  least  for 
to-day.  They  may  recall  me  to-morrow." 

Brisbane   was   visibly   annoyed.     "I   didn't   sup- 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

pose  you  would  come  on  till  eleven;  that's  the  word 
I  got  over  the  'phone.  I  particularly  wanted  to  hear 
your  deposition,"  he  added,  sourly. 

"Papa  has  an  idea  your  opposition  to  this  bill  is 
important/'  Elsie  said,  lightly,  as  Curtis  edged  away 
from  Brisbane. 

Brisbane  followed  him  up.  "Well,  now  that  your 
hearing  is  over,  suppose  you  get  into  our  carriage  and 
go  home  with  us  to  lunch?" 

"Please  do!"  said  Elsie,  with  flattering  sincerity. 

Curtis  hesitated,  and  was  made  captive.  "It  is  a 
great  temptation,"  he  said,  looking  at  Lawson. 

Elsie  saw  him  yielding  and  cried  out:  "Oh,  you 
must  come — and  you,  too,  Osborne." 

Lawson  was  plainly  defeated.  "I  can't  do  it.  I 
have  a  couple  of  New  York  men  to  lunch  at  the  club, 
and  I  couldn't  think  of  putting  them  off." 

"  Oh,  I'm  so  sorry ;  we  would  have  made  a  nice  little 
lunch  party." 

"There  are  other  days  coming!"  he  replied,  as 
lightly  as  possible. 

As  they  drove  away  Curtis  had  a  premonition  that 
his  impending  interview  would  be  disagreeable,  for 
Brisbane  sat  in  silence,  his  keen  eyes  full  of  some 
sinister  resolution.  He  was,  in  fact,  revolving  in 
his  mind  a  plan  of  attack.  He  realized  the  danger 
of  attempting  to  bribe  such  a  man  even  indirectly, 
but  a  poor  and  ambitious  soldier  might  be  removed 
by  gentler  means,  through  promotion;  and  friendly 
pressure  might  be  brought  to  bear  on  the  War  De- 
partment to  that  effect.  Having  set  himself  to  the 
task  of  clearing  the  reservation  of  the  Tetongs,  a  man 
of  Brisbane's  power  did  not  hesitate  long  over  the 

116 


CURTIS    GRAPPLES    WITH    BRISBANE 

morality  of  methods,  and  having  decided  upon  pro- 
motion as  his  method  of  approaching  Curtis,  the  old 
man  distinctl}'  softened,  and  made  himself  agreeable 
by  extending  the  drive  and  affably  pointing  out  the 
recent  improvements  in  the  city.  "Our  Capitol  is 
as  good  as  any  now,"  he  said.  "Our  new  buildings 
are  up  to  the  standard." 

The  young  soldier  refused  to  be  drawn  into  any 
blood-heating  discussions,  being  quite  content  to  sit 
facing  Elsie,  feeling  obscurely  the  soft  roll  of  the 
wheels  beneath  him,  and  absorbing  the  light  and 
color  of  the  streets.  "  This  is  my  city,"  he  said  ;  "I 
spent  my  boyhood,  here.  I  went  to  West  Point  from 
here." 

"  It  is  beautiful,"  replied  Elsie,  and  at  the  moment 
a  spark  of  some  mysterious  flame  sprang  from  each 
to  the  other.  They  were  young,  and  the  air  was  soft 
and  sweet.  Thereafter  everything  gave  the  young 
soldier  pleasure.  The  whistling  of  the  darkies,  the 
gay  garments  of  the  shoppers,  the  glitter  of  passing 
carriages,  the  spread  of  trees  against  the  bright  sky 
—everything  assumed  a  singular  grace.  His  cour- 
age rose,  and  he  felt  equal  to  any  task. 

As  they  entered  the  big  house  Elsie  said :  "  You're 
to  come  right  up  to  the  studio.  I  want  to  show  you 
a  canvas  I  finished  yesterday.  I  had  an  inspiration 
— I  think  you  brought  it  to  me." 

As  she  led  the  way  up  the  wide  and  splendidly 
carved  stairway  the  soldier's  elation  sank  away, 
for  each  step  emphasized  the  girl's  pride  and  power, 
and  by  contrast  threw  the  poor  Indian  agent  into 
hopeless  shadow.  He  hardly  heard  what  she  said, 
till  she  led  him  before  her  easel  and  said : 

117 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"There  is  yesterday's  work.  I've  been  trying  for 
days  to  get  a  certain  effect  of  color,  and,  behold!  I 
caught  it  flying  this  morning.  What  puzzles  me  in 
your  country  is  the  enormously  high  value  of  your 
earth  in  reference  to  the  sky.  The  sky  is  so  solid." 

As  he  took  in  the  significance  of  the  canvas  Cur- 
tis exclaimed : 

"It  is  very  beautiful.  It  is  miraculous.  How  do 
you  do  it?" 

"I'm  glad  you  like  it.  My  problem  there  was  to 
represent  the  difference  in  value  between  Chief  Elk, 
who  is  riding  in  the  vivid  sunlight,  and  his  wife  and 
Little  Peta,  who  are  just  in  the  edge  of  that  purple  cloud- 
shadow.  The  difference  between  wiiite  in  sunlight 
and  white  in  shadow  is  something  terrific  in  your 
dry  air.  Contrasts  are  enough  to  knock  you  down. 
This  gray,  Eastern  studio  light  makes  all  my  sketches 
seem  false,  but  I  know  they  are  not." 

"They  are  very  true,  it  seems  to  me." 

"  When  I  close  my  eyes  and  hark  back  to  the  flood- 
ing light  of  the  valley  of  the  Elk,  then  I  can  do  these 
things;  I  can't  if  I  don't.  I  have  to  forget  all  my 
other  pictures.  This  is  nearer  my  impression  than 
anything  else  I've  done." 

"It  has  great  charm,"  he  said,  after  a  pause,  "and 
it  also  reminds  me  of  my  duty.  I  must  return  at 
once  to  the  West." 

"When  do  you  go — actually?" 

"  Actually,  I  leave  to-morrow  at  three  o'clock ;  un- 
less I  receive  word  to  the  contrary,  to-morrow  morn- 
ing." 

"So  soon?  You  are  making  a  very  short  stay. 
Can't  you  remain  over  the  holidays?  Some  friends 

118 


CURTIS    GRAPPLES    WITH    BRISBANE 

of  mine  are  coming  on  from  New  York.  I'd  like  you 
to  meet  them/' 

"I  think  I  must  return.  Jennie  is  preparing  to 
give  her  little  'Ingines'  a  Christmas-tree,  and  I  am 
told  that  my  'Sandy  Claws'  would  add  greatly  to 
their  joy,  so  I  am  making  special  effort  to  reach  there 
on  the  23d/' 

She  looked  at  him  musingly.  "You  really  are 
interested  in  those  ugly  creatures?  I  don't  under- 
stand it." 

"  To  be  really  frank,  I  don't  understand  your  lack 
of  sympathy,"  he  replied,  smiling  a  little.  "  It  isn't 
at  all  feminine." 

She  took  a  seat  on  the  divan  before  she  spoke  again. 
"  Oh,  women  are  such  posers.  You  think  I  am  quite 
heartless,  don't  you?" 

"No,  I  don't  think  that,  but  I  do  think  you  are  a 
little  unjust  to  these  people,  whose  thought  you  have 
made  very  little  effort  to  comprehend." 

"  Why  should  I?     They  are  not  worth  while." 

"  Do  you  speak  now  as  an  artist?"  he  asked,  grave- 

ly. 

"But  they  are  so  gross  and  so  cruel!" 
"I  don't  deny  but  they  are,  sometimes,  both  gross 
and  cruel,  but  so  are  civilized  men.     The  scalp-dance 
no  more  represents  them  than  a  bayonet  charge  rep- 
resents us.     It  isn't  just  to  condemn  all  for  the  faults 
of  a  few.     You  wouldn't  destroy  servant-girls  because 
some  of  them  are  ugly  and  untidy,  would  you?" 
"The  cases  are  not  precisely  similar." 
"I'll  admit  that,  but  the  point  is  here:  as  an  ar- 
tist you  can't  afford  to  dispose  of  a  race  on  the  testi- 
mony  of   their   hereditary   enemies.     You   wouldn't 

119 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

expect  a  sympathetic  study  of  the  Greek  by  the  Sara- 
cen, would  you?" 

"It  isn't  that  so  much,  but  they  are  so  perfectly 
unimportant.  They  have  no  use  in  the  world.  What 
does  it  matter  if  they  die,  or  don't?" 

"  Perhaps  not  so  much  to  them ;  but  to  me,  if  I  can 
help  them  and  fail  to  do  it,  it  matters  a  great  deal. 
We  can't  afford  to  be  unjust,  for  our  own  sake.  The 
bearer  of  the  torch  should  not  burn,  he  should  illu- 
mine." 

"I  don't  understand  that/'  she  said,  genuinely 
searching  for  his  meaning. 

"  There  is  where  you  disappoint  me/'  he  retorted. 
"Most  women  quiver  with  altruistic  passion  the  mo- 
ment they  see  helpless  misery.  If  you  saw  a  kitten 
fall  into  a  well  what  would  you  do?" 

"  I  should  certainly  try  to  save  it." 

"  Your  heart  would  bleed  to  see  it  drown?" 

She  shivered  at  the  thought.     "Why,  of  course!" 

"  And  yet  you  can  share  in  your  father's  extermi- 
nating vengeance  as  he  sweeps  ten  thousand  red- 
men  into  their  graves?" 

"The  case  is  different — the  kitten  never  did  any 
harm." 

"The  wrong  is  by  no  means  all  on  the  redman's 
side.  But  even  if  it  were,  Christ  said,  '  Love  them 
that  hate  you/  and  as  a  Christian  nation  we  should 
not  go  out  in  vindictive  warfare  against  even  those 
who  despitefully  use  us.  I  haven't  a  very  high  seat 
in  the  synagogue.  I  have  a  soldier's  training  for  war- 
fare, but  I  acknowledge  the  splendor  of  Christ's  pre- 
cepts and  try  to  live  up  to  them.  I  always  liked  Grant's 
position  as  regards  the  soldier.  But  more  than  that 

120 


CURTIS    GRAPPLES    WITH   BRISBANE 

— I  like  these  red  people.  They  are  a  good  deal  more 
than  rude  men.  It  is  a  great  pleasur  to  feel  their 
trust  and  confidence  in  me.  It  touches  me  deeply 
to  have  them  come  and  put  their  palms  on  me  rever- 
ently, as  though  I  were  superhuman  in  wisdom,  and 
say :  '  Little  Father,  we  are  blind.  We  cannot  see 
the  way.  Lead  us  and  wre  will  go.'  At  such  times 
I  feel  that  no  other  work  in  the  world  is  so  important. 
If  human  souls  are  valuable  anywrhere  on  earth  they 
are  valuable  here;  no  selfish  land-lust  should  blind 
us  to  see  that/' 

As  he  spoke,  the  girl  again  felt  something  large 
and  sweet  and  powerful,  like  a  current  of  electrical 
air  which  came  out  of  wide  spaces  of  human  emotion 
and  covered  her  like  a  flood.  She  was  humbled  by 
the  high  purpose  and  inexplicable  enthusiasm  of  the 
man  before  her. 

"I  suppose  you  consider  me  cruel  and  heartless!" 
she  cried  out.  "But  I  am  not  to  blame  for  being 
what  I  am." 

"If  you  are  not  free,  who  is?  You  have  it  all — 
youth,  wealth,  beauty.  Nothing  enslaves  you  but 
indifference." 

She  was  thinking  that  Lawson  had  never  moved 
her  so,  and  wishing  Curtis  were  less  inexorable  in 
his  logic,  when  he  checked  himself  by  saying:  "I 
beg  your  pardon  again.  I  came  to  see  your  pictures, 
not  to  preach  forgiveness  of  sins.  I  here  pull  my- 
self up  short." 

"  I  think  you  could  make  me  feel  personal  interest 
in  brickbats  or — or  spiders,"  she  said,  with  a  quaint, 
relaxing  smile.  "You  were  born  to  be  a  preacher, 
not  a  soldier." 

121 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"Do  you  think  so?  I've  had  a  notion  all  along 
that  I  was  a  fairly  good  commander  and  a  mighty 
poor  persuader;  what  I  don't  intend  to  be  is  a  bore/' 
He  rose  and  began  to  walk  slowly  round  the  walls, 
studying  the  paintings  under  her  direction.  He  was 
struggling  with  obscure  impulses  to  other  and  more 
important  speech,  but  after  making  the  circuit  of 
the  room  he  said,  as  though  rendering  a  final  verdict : 

"  You  have  great  talent ;  that  is  evident.  What  do 
you  intend  to  do  with  it?  It  should  help  some  one." 

"You  are  old-fashioned/'  she  replied.  "In  our 
modern  day,  art  is  content  to  add  beauty  to  the  world  ; 
it  does  not  trouble  itself  to  do  good.  It  is  un-moral." 

"  Perhaps  I  am  a  preacher,  after  all,  for  I  like  the 
book  or  picture  that  has  a  motive,  that  stands  for 
something.  Your  conception  of  art's  uses  is  French, 
is  it  not?" 

"  I  suppose  it  is ;  clearly,  it  isn't  Germanic.  What 
would  you  have  me  do — paint  Indians  to  convince 
the  world  of  their  sufferings?" 

"Wouldn't  that  be  something  like  the  work  Mil- 
let did?  Seems  to  me  I  remember  something  of  that 
sort  in  some  book  I  have  read." 

She  laughed.  "Unfortunately,  I  am  not  Millet; 
besides,  he  isn't  the  god  of  our  present  idolatry.  He's 
a  dead  duck.  We  paint  skirt-dancers  and  the  singers 
in  the  cafe's  now.  Toiling  peasants  are  '  out. ' ' 

"  You  are  a  woman,  and  a  woman  ought — " 

"  Please  don't  hand  me  any  of  that  stupid  rot  about 
what  a  woman  ought  to  be,  and  isn't.  What  I  am  I 
am,  and  I  don't  like  dirty,  ragged  people,  no  matter 
whether  they  are  Roman  beggars  or  Chinese.  1 
like  clean,  well-dressed,  well-mannered  people  and 

122 


CURTIS  GRAPPLES   WITH   BRISBANE 

no  one  can  make  me  believe  they  are  less  than  a  lot 
of  ill-smelling  Indians." 

"  Miss  Brisbane,  you  must  not  do  me  an  injustice/' 
he  earnestly  entreated.  "It  was  not  my  intention 
to  instruct  you  to-day.  I  am  honestly  interested  in 
your  pictures,  and  had  no  thought  of  renewing  an 
appeal.  I  was  tempted  and  fell.  If  you  will  forgive 
me  this  time,  I'll  never  preach  again." 

"  I  don't  say  I  object  to  your  preachment.  I  think 
I  rather  like  it.  I  don't  think  I  ever  met  a  man  who 
was  so  ready  to  sacrifice  his  own  interest  for  an  idea. 
It's  rather  amusing  to  meet  a  soldier  who  is  ready  to 
knock  one  down  with  a  moral  war-club."  She  end- 
ed with  a  mocking  inflection  of  voice. 

His  face  lost  its  eager,  boyish  expression.  "I'm 
delighted  to  think  I  have  amused  you/'  he  said, 
slowly.  "  It  makes  amends. " 

"Please  don't  be  angry,"  she  pleaded.  "I  didn't 
mean  to  be  flippant." 

"Your  words  were  explicit,"  he  replied,  feeling  at 
the  moment  that  she  was  making  a  mock  of  him, 
and  this  duplicity  hurt  him. 

She  put  forth  her  sweetest  voice.  "Please  forgive 
me!  I  think  your  work  very  noble,  only  I  can't  un- 
derstand how  you  can  exile  yourself  to  do  it.  Let 
us  go  down ;  it  is  time  for  lunch,  and  papa  is  waiting 
for  you,  I  know." 

It  was  unaccountable  that  a  mocking  tone,  a  derisive 
smile  from  this  chance  acquaintance,  should  so  shake 
the  soldier  and  so  weaken  him,  but  he  descended 
the  stairway  with  a  humiliating  consciousness  of 
having  betrayed  his  heart  to  a  fleering,  luring  daugh- 
ter of  wealth. 

123 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

At  the  door  of  the  library  the  girl  paused.  "  Papa, 
are  you  asleep?" 

The  abrupt  rustle  of  a  newspaper  preceded  Bris- 
bane's deep  utterance.  "Not  at  all — just  reading 
the  Star.  Come  in,  Captain.  Is  lunch  nearly  ready?" 
he  asked  of  Elsie. 

"  I  think  so.     They  are  a  little  late.     I'll  go  see. ' ' 

As  she  left  the  room  Brisbane  cordially  rumbled 
on.  "Sit  down,  Captain.  I'm.  sorry  I  missed  your 
talk  to-day.  I  am  curious  to  know  what  your  notion 
is  about  the  Tetongs.  Of  course,  I  understood  you 
couldn't  go  into  the  case  the  other  night,  but,  now 
that  your  testimony  is  all  in,  I  hope  you  feel  free  to 
give  me  your  reasons  for  opposing  our  plan  for  a  re- 
moval of  the  tribe." 

Curtis  took  a  seat,  while  Brisbane  stretched  him- 
self out  in  a  big  chair  and  fixed  his  cold,  gray-blue 
eyes  on  the  soldier,  who  hesitated  a  moment  before 
replying,  "  I  don't  think  it  wise  to  go  into  that  matter, 
Senator." 

"  Why  not  ?" 

"  Well,  we  differ  so  radically  on  the  bill,  and  your 
interests  make  it  exceedingly  difficult  for  you  to  be  just 
in  the  case.  Nothing  would  be  gained  by  argument." 

"You  think  you  know  what  my  interests  are?" 
There  was  a  veiled  sarcasm  in  the  great  man's  smile. 

"  I  think  I  do.  As  a  candidate  for  re-election  to 
the  Senate  you  can't  afford  to  antagonize  the  cattle 
and  mining  interests  of  your  State,  and,  as  I  am 
now  officially  the  representative  of  the  Tetongs,  I 
sincerely  hope  you  will  not  insist  on  a  discussion  of 
the  motives  involved."  The  young  officer  spoke 
firmly,  but  with  impressive  dignity  and  candor. 

124 


CURTIS   GRAPPLES   WITH  BRISBANE 

Brisbane's  ambiguous  manner  took  a  sudden  shift 
to  cordiality,  and,  leaning  forward,  he  said : 

"Curtis,  I  like  you.  I  admire  your  frankness. 
Let  me  be  equally  plain.  You're  too  able  a  man  to 
be  shelved  out  there  on  a  bleak  reservation.  What 
was  your  idea  of  going  into  the  Indian  service,  any- 
way?" 

The  young  officer  remained  on  guard  despite  this 
genial  glow.  "I  considered  it  my  duty/'  he  replied. 
"Besides,  I  was  rusting  out  in  garrison,  and — but 
there  is  no  need  to  go  into  my  motives.  I  am  agent, 
and  shall  stand  firmly  for  the  right  of  my  wards  so 
long  as  I  am  in  position  to  do  so." 

"  But  you're  wasting  your  life.  Suppose  you  were 
offered  a  chance  to  go  to — well,  say  West  Point,  as  an 
instructor  on  a  good  salary?" 

"I  would  decline  the  appointment." 

"Why?" 

"Because  at  this  time  I  am  needed  where  I  am, 
and  I  have  started  on  a  plan  of  action  which  I  have 
a  pride  in  finishing." 

Brisbane  grew  distinctively  less  urbane.  "  You  are 
bent  on  fighting  me,  are  you?" 

"What  do  you  mean?"  asked  Curtis,  though  he 
knew. 

"  You  are  dead  set  against  the  removal  of  the  Te- 
tongs?" 

"Most  certainly  I  am!" 

Elsie  re-entered  the  room  during  this  rapid  inter- 
change of  phrase,  but  neither  of  the  men  heard  her, 
so  intent  were  they  upon  each  other. 

"  Young  man,  do  you  know  who  you  are  fighting?" 
asked  Brisbane,  bristling  like  a  bear  and  showing 

125 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

his  teeth  a  little.  Curtis  being  silent,  he  went  on: 
"  You're  lined  up  against  the  whole  State!  Not  only 
the  cattlemen  round  about  the  reservation,  but  a  ma- 
iority  of  the  citizens  are  determined  to  be  rid  of  those 
vagabonds.  Anybody  that  knows  anything  about 
em  knows  they're  a  public  nuisance.  Why  should 
they  be  allowed  to  camp  on  land  which  they  can't  use 
— graze  their  mangy  ponies  on  lands  rich  in  min- 
erals—1' 

"  Because  they  are  human  beings." 

"Human  beings!"  sneered  Brisbane.  "They  are 
nothing  but  a  greasy  lot  of  vermin — worthless  from 
every  point  of  view.  Their  rights  can't  stand  in  the 
way  of  civilization." 

"It  is  not  a  question  of  whether  they  are  clean  or 
dirty,  it  is  a  question  of  justice/'  Curtis  replied, 
hotly.  "They  came  into  the  world  like  the  rest  of 
us,  without  any  choice  in  the  matter,  and  so  far  as  I 
can  see  have  the  same  rights  to  the  earth — at  least, 
so  much  of  it  as  they  need  to  sustain  life.  The  fact 
that  they  make  a  different  use  of  the  soil  than  you 
would  do  isn't  a  sufficient  reason  for  starving  and 
robbing  them." 

"  The  quicker  they  die  the  better,"  replied  Brisbane, 
flushing  with  sudden  anger.  "The  only  good  In- 
jun is  a  dead  Injun." 

At  this  familiar  phrase  Curtis  took  fire.  "Yes, 
I  expected  that  accursed  sentence.  Let  me  tell  you, 
Mr.  Brisbane,  I  never  knew  a  redman  savage  enough 
to  utter  such  a  sentiment  as  that.  The  most  fero- 
cious utterance  of  Geronimo  never  touched  the  tiger- 
ish malignity  of  that  saying.  Sitting  Bull  was  will- 
ing to  live  and  let  live.  If  your  view  represents  civil- 

126 


CURTIS  GRAPPLES   WITH  BRISBANE 

(zation,  I  want  none  of  it.     The  world  of  the  savage 
is  less  cruel,  less  selfish. " 

Brisbane's  face  writhed  white,  and  a  snarling 
curse  choked  his  utterance  for  a  moment.  "  If  you 
weren't  my  guest,"  he  said,  reaching  a  clutching 
hand  towards  Curtis,  "I'd  cut  your  throat." 

Elsie,  waiting  in  strained  expectancy,  cried  out: 
"Father!  What  are  you  saying?  Are  you  crazy?" 

Curtis  hastily  rose,  very  white  and  very  quiet. 
"I  will  take  care  not  to  put  myself  in  your  way  as 
guest  again,  sir." 

"You  can't  leave  too  quick!"  roared  the  old  man, 
his  face  twitching  with  uncontrollable  wrath.  "You 
are  a  traitor  to  your  race!  You'd  sacrifice  the  set- 
tlers to  the  interests  of  a  greasy  red  vagabond  1" 

"Father,  be  quiet!  You  are  making  a  scene/' 
called  Elsie,  and  added,  sadly:  "Don't  go,  Captain 
Curtis ;  I  shall  be  deeply  mortified  if  you  do.  Father 
will  be  sorry  for  this. " 

Brisbane  also  rose,  shaking  with  a  weakness  pitiful 
to  see.  "Well,  sir,  you  can  go,  for  I  know  now  the 
kind  of  sneak  you  are.  Let  me  tell  you  this,  young 
man :  you'll  feel  my  hand  before  you  are  a  year  older. 
You  can't  come  into  my  house  and  insult  me  in  the 
presence  of  my  daughter.  Get  out!"  His  hands 
were  moving  uncontrollably,  and  Elsie  discovered 
with  a  curious  pang  that  she  was  pitying  him  and 
admiring  the  stern  young  soldier  who  stood  quietly 
waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  speak.  At  last  he  said  : 

"Miss  Brisbane,  I  beg  your  pardon;  I  should  not 
have  said  what  I  did."  He  turned  to  Brisbane.  "I 
am  sorry  I  spoke  so  harshly,  sir.  You  are  an  older 
man  than  I,  and — " 

127 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"Never  mind  my  age,"  replied  Brisbane,  his  heat 
beginning  to  cool  into  self-contained  malice.  "I  de- 
sire no  terms  of  friendship  with  you.  It's  war  now 
— to  the  knife,  and  the  knife  to  the  hilt.  You  think 
you  are  safe  from  me,  but  the  man  that  lines  up  against 
me  generally  regrets  it  to  the  day  of  his  death." 

"Very  well,  sir,  I  am  not  one  to  waste  words.  I 
shall  do  my  duty  to  the  Tetongs  regardless  of  you 
or  your  friends."  He  turned  to  Elsie.  "Miss  Bris- 
bane, I  ask  you  to  remember  that  I  honestly  tried  to 
avoid  a  controversy." 

Six  months  before  Elsie  would  have  remained  pas- 
sive while  her  father  ordered  Curtis  from  the  door, 
but  now  she  could  not  even  attempt  to  justify  his 
anger,  and  the  tears  glistened  on  her  lashes  as  she 
said :  "  Father,  why  can't  you  accept  Captain  Curtis's 
hand?  These  ragamuffin  redmen  aren't  worth  quar- 
relling about.  No  one  ever  went  away  from  us  like 
this,  and  it  breaks  my  heart  to  have  it  so.  Don't  go, 
Captain  Curtis.  Father,  ask  his  pardon." 

The  old  man  turned  towards  her.  "Go  to  your 
room.  I  will  see  that  this  young  squirt  finds  the 
door!" 

Elsie  shrank  from  the  glare  of  his  eyes.  "  Father, 
you  are  brutal!  You  hurt  me." 

"Do  as  I  say!"  he  snarled. 

"I  will  not!"  She  faced  him,  tall  and  resolute. 
"  I  am  not  a  child.  I  am  the  mistress  of  this  house. " 
She  turned  and  walked  towards  the  door.  "  Captain 
Curtis,  I  beg  your  pardon;  my  father  has  forgotten 
himself." 

Brisbane  took  a  step  towards  Curtis.  "Get  out  I 
And  vou,  girl,  leave  the  room/' 

128 


CURTIS   GRAPPLES   WITH   BRISBANE 

The  girl's  face  whitened.  "  Have  you  no  sense  of 
decency?"  she  said,  and  her  voice  cut  deep  down 
into  his  heart  and  he  flinched.  "Captain  Curtis  is 
my  guest  as  well  as  yours."  She  extended  her 
hand.  "  Please  go !  It  is  best. " 

"It  is  the  most  miserable  moment  of  my  life/'  he 
replied,  as  they  moved  down  the  hall,  leaving  Bris- 
bane at  the  door  of  the  study.  "  I  will  do  any  hon- 
orable thing  to  regain  your  good- will." 

"You  have  not  lost  it,"  she  replied.  "I  cannot 
blame  you — as  I  should,"  she  added,  and  the  look  on 
her  face  mystified  him. 

" May  I  see  you  again  before  I  leave  for  the  West?" 

"  Perhaps,"  she  softly  replied.  "  Remember  he  is 
old—and—" 

"  I  will  try  not  to  bear  anger,"  he  replied. 

And  as  he  turned  away  it  seemed  that  she  had 
leagued  herself  with  him  against  her  own  father, 
and  this  feeling  deepened  as  she  ran  up  the  stairs 
heedless  of  the  voice  whose  commands  had  hitherto 
been  law  to  her. 

The  young  officer  walked  down  the  sunny  avenue 
towards  the  White  House  with  a  curious  feeling  of 
having  just  passed  through  a  bitter  and  degrading 
dream.  He  was  numb  and  cold.  Around  him  the 
little  negro  newsboys  were  calling  the  one- o'clock 
editions  of  the  "  Styah,"  and  tne  pavements  were 
swarming  with  public  servants  hastening  to  lunch, 
punctual  as  clocks,  while  he,  having  been  ordered 
from  the  house  of  his  host,  was  mechanically  return- 
ing to  his  club. 

There  was  something  piercingly  pathetic  in  the 
thought  of  the  good  cheer  he  had  anticipated,  and 
»  129 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

the  lost  pleasure  of  sitting  opposite  Elsie  made  his 
heart  ache.  At  the  moment  his  feet  stumbled  in  the 
path  of  duty.  Surely  he  was  a  long  way  from  the 
single-minded  map-builder  who  had  crossed  the 
Sulphur  Spring  Divide. 


xn 

SPRING  ON  THE  ELK 

SPRING  came  early  in  that  latitude,  and  Curtis 
was  profoundly  thankful  that  his  first  winter 
had  proven  unusually  short  and  mild,  for  it  enabled 
him  to  provide  for  his  people  far  better  than  he  had 
dared  to  hope.  The  rations  were  insufficient  at  best, 
and  for  several  days  of  each  alternate  week  the  grown 
people  were  hungry  as  well  as  cold,  though  no  one 
actually  perished  from  lack  of  food.  Beyond  the 
wood  contract  and  the  hauling  of  hides  each  month 
there  was  very  little  work  to  be  done  during  the  win- 
ter, not  enough  to  buy  the  tobacco  the  men  longed 
for. 

They  believed  in  Swift  Eagle,  however,  for  he 
visited  every  cluster  of  huts  each  month,  and  became 
acquainted  with  nearly  every  family  during  the  win- 
ter. No  agent  had  ever  taken  the  like  pains  to  shake 
the  old  women  by  the  hand,  or  to  speak  as  kindly  to 
the  old  men  who  sat  beside  the  fire,  feeble  and  bent 
with  rheumatism.  The  little  children  all  ran  to  him 
when  he  came  near,  as  if  he  were  a  friend,  and  that 
was  a  good  sign,  too.  Some  of  the  old  chiefs  com- 
plained, of  course — there  was  so  little  else  for  them 
to  do;  but  they  did  not  blame  the  Little  Father. 
They  were  assured  of  his  willingness  to  do  whatever 

J3I 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

lay  within  his  power  to  mitigate  their  poverty.  Jen- 
nie, who  was  often  at  the  beds  of  those  who  suf- 
fered, had  won  wide  acceptance  of  her  lotions  by  an 
amused  tolerance  of  the  medicine  -  men,  whose  mys- 
tic paraphernalia  interested  her  exceedingly.  The 
men  of  magic  came  at  last  to  sing  their  curious  songs 
and  perform  their  feats  of  healing  in  her  presence. 
"  Together  we  will  defeat  the  evil  spirits/'  they  said, 
and  the  health  of  the  tribe  continued  to  be  very  good, 
in  spite  of  unsanitary  housing  and  the  evil  influence 
of  the  medicine-men.  When  the  missionaries  came 
to  have  the  native  doctors  suppressed  Curtis  said : 
"My  policy  is  to  supplant,  not  to  suppress/' 

The  bill  which  called  for  the  removal  of  the  Tetongs 
to  another  reservation  was  reported  killed.  The 
compromise  measure  for  buying  out  the  settlers  was 
"  hung  up  "  in  the  committee-room,  and  this  delay  on 
the  part  of  Congress  exasperated  the  settlers  beyond 
reason,  and  at  a  convention  held  early  in  April  at 
Pinon  City,  Joseph  Streeter  brazenly  shouted,  "If 
the  government  does  not  remove  these  Injuns  before 
the  first  of  July  we'll  make  it  hot  for  all  concerned/' 
and  his  threat  was  wildly  cheered  and  largely  quoted 
thereafter  as  the  utterance  of  a  man  not  afraid  of 
Congress  or  anybody  else. 

Seed-time  came  without  any  promise  of  change, 
and  the  white  settlers  on  the  reservation  went  sullenly 
to  their  planting,  and  the  cattlemen  drove  their  herds 
across  the  boundaries  upon  the  Tetong  range  as  they 
had  been  doing  for  many  years.  "  We  are  in  for  an- 
other season  of  it,"  they  said,  with  the  air  of  being 
martyrs  in  the  cause  of  civilization. 

Curtis  immediately  sent  warning  commands  to 
132 


SPRING    ON   THE   ELK 

all  the  outside  ranchers  to  keep  clear  of  the  reserva- 
tion, and  also  notified  Streeter,  Johnson,  and  others 
of  the  settlers  on  the  Elk  and  the  Willow  that  their 
cattle  must  not  be  allowed  to  stray  beyond  certain 
lines,  which  he  indicated.  These  orders,  according 
to  Calvin,  made  the  settlers  "red-headed  as  wood- 
peckers. They  think  you're  drawin'  the  lines  down 
pretty  fine." 

"I  mean  to/'  replied  Curtis.  "You  original  set- 
tlers are  here  by  right  and  shall  have  full  opportunity 
to  graze  your  stock,  but  those  on  the  outside  must 
keep  out.  I  will  seize  and  impound  all  stock  that  does 
not  belong  on  this  land." 

Calvin  reported  this  statement  to  the  outside  men, 
and  its  audacity  provoked  the  most  violent  threats 
against  the  agent,  but  he  rode  about  unaccompanied 
and  unarmed;  but  not  without  defence,  for  Calvin 
said  to  one  of  the  loudest  of  the  boasters,  "  The  man 
who  jerks  a  gun  on  Curtis  runs  a  good  chance  of 
losing  a  lung  or  two/'  and  the  remark  took  effect,  for 
Calvin  had  somehow  acquired  a  reputation  for  being 
"plumb  sassy  when  attack-ted/' 

Curtis  had  the  army  officer's  contempt  of  personal 
injury,  and,  in  pursuance  of  his  campaign  against 
the  invading  stockmen,  did  not  hesitate  to  ride  into 
their  round-up  camps  alone,  or  accompanied  only 
by  Crow  Wing,  and  no  blusterer  could  sustain  his 
reputation  in  the  face  of  the  agent's  calm  sense  of 
command. 

"  I  am  not  speaking  personally/'  he  said  once,  to  an 
angry  camp  of  a  dozen  armed  men.  "  I  am  here  as  an 
officer  of  the  United  States  army,  detailed  to  special 
duty  as  an  Indian  agent,  and  I  am  in  command  of 

133 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

this  reservation.     It  is  of  no  use  to  bluster.     Your 
cattle  must  be  kept  from  the  Tetong  range." 

"  The  grass  is  going  to  waste  there/'  the  boss  ar- 
gued. 

"  That  does  not  concern  you.  It  is  not  the  fault  of 
the  Tetongs  that  they  have  not  cattle  enough  to  fill 
the  range/' 

In  the  end  he  had  his  way,  and  though  the  settlers 
and  ranchers  hated  him,  they  also  respected  him. 
No  one  thought  of  attempting  to  bribe  or  scare  him, 
and  political  "  pull "  had  no  value  in  his  eyes. 

Jennie,  meanwhile,  had  acquired  almost  mythic 
fame  as  a  marvellously  beautiful  and  haughty 
"queen."  Calvin  was  singularly  close  -  mouthed 
about  her,  but  one  or  two  of  the  cowboys  who  had 
chanced  to  meet  her  with  the  agent  spread  the  most 
appreciative  reports  of  her  beauty  and  of  the  gar- 
ments she  wore.  She  was  said  to  be  a  singer  of  opera 
tunes,  and  that  she  played  the  piano  "to  beat  the 
Jews/'  One  fellow  who  had  business  with  the  agent 
reported  having  met  her  at  the  door.  "  By  mighty ! 
she's  purty  enough  to  eat,"  he  said  to  his  chum. 
"Her  cheeks  are  as  pink  as  peaches,  and  her  eyes 
are  jest  the  brown  I  like.  She's  a  'glad  rag,'  all 
right." 

"Made  good  use  o'  your  time,  didn't  ye?"  remarked 
his  friend. 

"You  bet  your  life!  I  weren't  lettin'  nothin'  git 
by  me  endurin'  that  minute  or  two." 

"  I  bet  you  dursn't  go  there  again." 

"I  take  ye — I'll  go  to-morrow." 

"Without  any  business,  this  time?  No  excuse 
but  jest  to  see  her?  You  'ain't  got  the  nerve." 

134 


SPRING    ON   THE   ELK 

"You'll  see.  I'm  the  boy.  There  ain't  no  'rag* 
gay  enough  to  scare  me." 

It  became  a  common  joke  for  some  lank,  brown 
chap  to  say  carelessly,  as  he  rose  from  supper,  "  Well, 
I  guess  I'll  throw  a  saddle  onto  my  bald-faced  sorrel 
and  ride  over  and  see  the  agent's  sister."  In  reality, 
not  one  of  them  ever  dared  to  even  knock  at  the  door, 
and  when  they  came  to  the  yards  with  a  consign- 
ment of  cattle  they  were  as  self-conscious  as  school- 
boys in  a  parlor  and  uneasy  as  wolves  in  a  trap,  till 
they  were  once  more  riding  down  the  trail ;  then  they 
"  broke  loose,"  whooping  shrilly  and  racing  like  mad, 
in  order  to  show  that  they  had  never  been  afraid. 
Calvin  continued  to  call,  and  his  defence  of  the  agent 
had  led  to  several  sharp  altercations  with  his  father. 

The  red  people  expanded  and  took  on  cheer  under 
the  coming  of  the  summer,  like  some  larger  form  of  in- 
sect life.  They  were  profoundly  glad  of  the  warmth. 
The  old  men,  climbing  to  some  rounded  hill-top  at 
dawn,  sat  reverently  to  smoke  and  offer  incense  to 
the  Great  Spirit,  which  the  sun  was,  and  the  little 
children,  seeing  the  sages  thus  in  deep  meditation, 
passed  quietly  by  with  a  touch  of  awe. 

As  the  soft  winds  began  to  blow,  the  dingy  huts 
were  deserted  for  the  sweeter  and  wrholesomer  life  of 
the  tepee,  which  is  always  ventilated,  and  which  has 
also  a  thousand  memories  of  battle  and  the  chase  asso- 
ciated with  its  ribbed  walls,  its  yellowed  peak,  and  its 
smouldering  fires.  The  sick  grew  well  and  the  weak 
became  strong  as  they  passed  once  more  from  the 
foul  air  of  their  cabins  to  the  inspiriting  breath  of 
the  mountains,  uncontaminated  by  any  smoke  of 
white  man's  fire.  The  little  girls  went  forth  on  the 

135 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

hills  to  gather  flowers  for  the  teachers,  and  the  medi- 
cine -  men,  taking  great  credit  to  themselves,  said : 
"See!  our  incantations  again  prevailed.  The  sun 
is  coming  back,  the  grass  is  green,  and  the  warm 
winds  are  breathing  upon  the  hills." 

"Ay,  but  you  cannot  bring  back  the  buffalo/1 
said  those  who  doubted,  for  there  are  sceptics  among 
the  redmen  as  elsewhere.  "  When  you  do  that,  then 
we  will  believe  that  you  are  really  men  of  magic." 

But  the  people  did  not  respond  cheerfully  to  Curtis 
when  he  urged  them  to  plant  gardens.  They  said : 
"  We  will  do  it,  Little  Father,  but  it  is  of  no  use.  For 
two  years  we  tried  it,  and  each  year  the  hot  sun  dried 
our  little  plants.  Our  corn  withered  and  our  potatoes 
came  to  nothing.  Do  not  ask  us  to  again  plough 
the  hard  earth.  It  is  all  a  weariness  to  no  result." 

To  Jennie,  Curtis  said:  "I  haven't  the  heart  to 
push  them  into  doing  a  useless  thing.  They  are  right. 
I  must  wait  until  we  have  the  water  of  the  streams 
for  our  own  use." 

The  elder  Streeter  was  very  bitter,  Calvin  reported. 
"  But  he  ain't  no  idyot.  He  won't  make  no  move  that 
the  law  don't  back  him  up  in ;  but  some  o'  these  other 
yaps  are  talkin'  all  kinds  of  gun-play.  But  don't 
you  lose  any  flesh.  They  got  to  git  by  me  before 
they  reach  you." 

Curtis  smiled.  "Calvin,  you're  a  loyal  friend, 
but  I  am  not  a  bit  nervous." 

"  That's  all  right,  Captain,  but  you  can't  tell  what 
a  mob  o'  these  la-hees  will  do.  I've  seen  'em  make 
some  crazy  plays — I  sure  have ;  but  I'll  keep  one  ear 
lapped  back  for  signs  of  war." 


XIII 

ELSIE  PROMISES  TO  RETURN 

ONE  beautiful  May  day  Curtis  came  into  the 
house  with  shining  face. 

"Sis,  our  artists  are  coming  back/'  he  called  to 
Jennie  from  the  hall. 

"  Are  they  ?  Oh,  isn  't  that  glorious ! "  she  answered", 
running  to  meet  him.  "  When  are  they  to  reach  here? 
Whom  did  you  hear  from?" 

"  Lawson.  They  can't  come  till  some  time  in  June, 
however." 

Jennie's  face  fell.  "  In  June !  I  thought  you  meant 
they  were  coming  now — right  away — this  week. " 

"Lawson  furthermore  writes  that  he  expects  to 
bring  a  sculptor  with  him  —  a  Mr.  Parker.  You 
remember  those  photographs  he  showed  us  of  some 
statues  of  Indians?  Well,  this  is  the  man  who  made 
the  figures.  His  wife  is  coming  as  chaperon  for 
Miss  Brisbane." 

"She  still  needs  a  chaperon,  does  she?" 

"It  would  seem  so.  Besides,  Mrs.  Parker  goes 
everywhere  with  her  husband." 

"I  hope  she'll  be  as  nice  as  Mrs.  Wilcox." 

"I  don't  think  Lawson  would  bring  any  crooked 
timber  along — there  must  be  something  worth  while 
in  them." 

137 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"Well,  I  am  delighted,  George.  I  confess  I'm 
hungry  for  a  message  from  the  outside  world;  and 
during  the  school  vacation  we  can  get  away  once  in 
a  while  to  enjoy  ourselves." 

The  certainty  of  the  return  of  the  artistic  colony 
changed  Curtis 's  entire  summer  outlook.  Work  had 
dragged  heavily  upon  him  during  February  and 
March,  and  there  were  moments  when  his  enthu- 
siasm ebbed.  It  was  a  trying  position.  He  began 
to  understand  how  a  man  might  start  in  his  duties 
with  the  most  commendable  desire,  even  solemn  res- 
olution, to  be  ever  kindly  and  patient  and  self-re- 
spectiiig,  and  end  by  cursing  the  redrnen  and  him- 
self most  impartially.  Misunderstandings  are  so 
easy  where  two  races  are  forced  into  daily  contact, 
without  knowledge  of  each  other's  speech,  and  with 
only  a  partial  comprehension  of  each  other's  outlook 
on  the  world.  Some  of  the  employe's  possessed  a 
small  vocabulary  of  common  Tetong  words,  but  they 
could  neither  explain  nor  reason  about  any  act.  The^ 
could  only  command.  Curtis,  by  means  of  the  sign 
language,  which  he  had  carried  to  marvellous  clear- 
ness and  swiftness,  was  able  to  make  himself  under- 
stood fairly  well  on  most  topics,  but  nevertheless 
found  himself  groping  at  times  in  the  obscure  caverns 
of  their  thinking. 

"  Even  after  a  man  gets  their  thought  he  must  com- 
prehend the  origin  of  their  motives,'1  he  said  to  Wil- 
son, his  clerk.  "Everything  they  do  has  meaning 
and  sequence.  They  have  developed,  like  ourselves, 
through  countless  generations  of  life  under  relative- 
ly stable  conditions.  These  material  conditions  are 
now  giving  way,  are  vanishing,  but  the  mental  traits 


ELSIE    PROMISES  TO   RETURN 

they  formed  will  persist.  Think  of  this  when  you 
are  impatient  with  them." 

Wilson  took  a  pessimistic  view.  "  I  defy  the  angd 
Gabriel  to  keep  his  temper  if  he  should  get  himself  ap- 
pointed clerk.  If  I  was  a  married  man  I  could  make 
a  better  mark;  but  there  it  is — they  can't  see  me/' 
He  ended  with  a  deep  sigh. 

Curtis  took  advantage  of  Lawson's  letter  to  write 
again  to  Elsie,  and  though  he  considered  it  a  very 
polite  and  entirely  circumspect  performance,  his  fer- 
vor of  gladness  burned  through  every  line,  and  the 
girl  as  she  read  it  fell  to  musing  on  the  singular- 
ity of  the  situation.  He  was  in  her  mind  very  often, 
now;  the  romance  and  the  poetry  of  the  work  he  was 
doing  began  at  last  to  appeal  to  her,  and  the  knowl- 
edge that  she,  in  a  sense,  shared  the  possibilities 
with  him,  was  distinctly  pleasurable.  She  had  per- 
ception enough  to  feel  also  the  force  of  the  contrast 
in  their  lives,  he  toiling  thanklessly  on  a  barren, 
sun-smit  land,  in  effort  to  lead  a  subject  race  to  self- 
supporting  freedom,  while  she,  dabbling  in  art  for 
art's  sake,  sat  in  a  secure  place  and  watched  him 
curiously. 

"How  well  he  writes,"  she  thought,  returning  to 
his  letter.  His  sentences  clutched  her  like  strong 
hands,  and  she  could  not  escape  them.  As  she  read 
she  drew  again  the  splendid  lines  of  his  head  in  pro- 
file, and  then,  a  sentence  later,  it  seemed  that  he  was 
looking  straight  into  her  eyes,  grave  of  countenance, 
involved  in  some  moral  question  whose  solution  he 
considered  essential  to  his  happiness  and  to  the  wel- 
fare of  his  people.  Surely  he  was  a  most  uncommon 
soldier.  When  she  had  finished  reading  she  was 

139 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

sincerely  moved  to  reply.  She  had  nothing  dei 
initely  in  mind  to  say,  and  yet  somehow  she  visual- 
ized him  at  his  desk  waiting  an  answer.  "  The  worst 
of  it  is,  we  seem  to  have  no  topic  in  common  except 
his  distressing  Indians/'  she  said,  as  she  returned 
to  her  work.  "Even  art  to  him  means  painting  the 
redmen  sympathetically." 

But  he  could  not  be  put  aside.  He  was  narrow 
and  one-sided,  but  he  was  sincere  and  manly — and 
handsome.  That  was  the  very  worst  of  it;  he  was 
too  attractive  to  be  forgotten.  Therefore  she  took  up 
her  pen  again,  being  careful  to  keep  close  to  artistic 
motives.  She  spoke  of  the  success  of  her  spring  ex- 
hibition, and  said  :  "  It  has  confirmed  me  in  the  desire 
to  go  on  valiantly  in  the  same  line.  That  is  the  rea- 
son I  am  coming  back  to  the  Tetongs.  I  feel  that 
I  begin  to  know  them — artistically,  I  mean;  not  as 
you  know  them — and  I  need  your  blazing  sunlight 
to  drink  up  the  fogs  that  I  brought  from  Holland 
and  Belgium.  The  prismatic  flare  of  color  out  there 
pleases  me.  It's  just  the  white  ray  split  into  its 
primary  colors,  but  I  can  get  it.  I'm  going  to  do 
more  of  those  canvases  of  the  moving  figure  blended 
with  the  landscape;  they  make  a  stunning  technical 
problem  in  vibration  as  well  as  in  values ;  and  then 
the  critics  shout  over  them,  too.  I  sold  the  one  you 
liked  so  well,  and  also  five  portraits,  and  feel  vastly 
encouraged.  Owen  Field  was  over  from  New  York 
and  gave  me  a  real  hurrah.  I  am  going  to  exhibit 
in  New  York  next  fall  if  all  goes  well  with  me  among 
the  Tetongs." 


XIV 

ELSIE  REVISITS  CURTIS 

JENNIE  thought  her  brother  the  handsomest  man 
I  in  the  State  as  they  walked  up  and  down  the 
station  platform  waiting  for  the  express  train  which 
was  bringing  Elsie  and  Lawson  and  a  famous  Pari- 
sian-American sculptor  and  his  wife.  Curtis  was  in 
undress  uniform,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  slouching 
crowd  of  weather-beaten  loafers  he  seemed  a  man  of 
velvet -green  parade  grounds  and  whitewashed  pal- 
ings, commanding  lines  of  polished  bayonets. 

He  was  more  profoundly  stirred  at  the  thought  of 
Elsie's  coming  than  he  cared  to  admit,  but  Jen- 
nie's delight  was  outspoken.  "I  didn't  know  how 
hungry  for  a  change  I  was/'  she  said.  "They  will 
bring  the  air  of  the  big  city  world  with  them." 

The  whistle  of  the  far-off  train  punctuated  her 
sentences.  "Oh,  George,  doesn't  it  seem  impossible 
that  in  a  few  moments  the  mistress  of  that  great  Wash- 
ington home  will  descend  the  car-steps  to  meet  us?" 

"Yes,  I  can't  believe  it/'  he  replied,  and  his  hands 
trembled  a  little  as  he  nervously  buttoned  his  coat. 

The  train  came  rapidly  to  a  stop,  with  singing  rods, 
grinding  brakes,  and  the  whiz  of  escaping  steam. 
Some  ordinary  mortals  tumbled  out,  and  then  the 
wonderful  one  I 

141 


THE  CAPTAIN  OP  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"There  they  arel"  cried  Jennie.  "And,  oh — 
aren't  her  clothes  maddening  1" 

Lawson,  descending  first,  helped  Elsie  to  the  plat- 
form with  an  accepted  lover's  firm  touch.  She  wore 
a  blue-cloth  tailored  suit  which  fitted  marvellously, 
and  her  color  was  more  exquisite  than  ever.  Ad- 
miring Jennie  fairly  gasped  as  the  simple  elegance 
of  Elsie's  habit  became  manifest,  and  she  had  only  a 
glance  for  the  sculptor  and  his  wife. 

Elsie,  with  hands  extended,  seized  upon  them  both 
with  cordial  intensity.  A  little  flurry  of  hand-shak- 
ings followed,  and  at  last  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jerome 
Parker  were  introduced.  He  was  a  tall  man  with  a 
bush  of  yellow  beard,  while  she  was  dark  and  plain; 
but  she  had  a  pleasant  smile,  and  her  eyes  were  nice 
and  quiet. 

"Do  you  know,  I'm  overjoyed  to  get  back!"  said 
Elsie  to  Curtis.  "I  don't  know  why  I  should  be,  but 
I've  been  eagerly  looking  for  the  Cleft  Butte  all  day. 
Jerome  will  tell  you  that  I  expressed  a  sort  of  propri- 
etorship in  every  prairie-dog." 

"We  are  very  glad  to  have  you  here  again,"  re- 
plied Curtis.  "  And  now  that  you  are  here,  we  must 
get  your  belongings  together  and  get  away.  We  are 
to  camp  to-night  at  the  Sandstone  Spring." 

"A  real  camp?" 

"  A  real  camp.  We  could  drive  through,  of  course, 
but  it  would  be  tiresome,  and  then  I  thought  you'd 
enjoy  the  camp." 

"Of  course  we  shall.     It's  very  thoughtful  of  you. " 

"  Everything  will  be  ready  for  us.  I  left  Two  Horns 
to  look  after  it." 

"Then  it  will  be  right,"  said  Lawson,  who  was 
142 


ELSIE  REVISITS  CURTIS 

beaming  with  placid  joy.  "Isn't  it  good  to  breathe 
this  air  again?  It  was  stifling  hot  in  Alta  City.  I 
never  knew  it  to  be  hotter  in  the  month  of  June." 

While  they  talked,  Crane's  Voice  was  collecting 
the  trunks,  and  in  a  few  minutes,  with  Elsie  by  his 
side,  Curtis  drove  his  three -seated  buckboard  out 
upon  the  floor  of  the  valley,  leaving  the  squalid  town 
behind.  Lawson  and  Mrs.  Parker  occupied  the  mid- 
dle seat,  and  Jennie  and  the  tall  sculptor  sat  behind. 
They  were  all  as  merry  as  children.  Elsie  took  off 
her  hat  and  faced  the  sun  with  joyous  greeting. 

" Isn't  this  glorious?  I've  dreamed  of  this  every 
night  for  a  month/' 

"  That's  one  thing  the  Tetong  has — good,  fresh  air, 
and  plenty  of  it,"  said  Lawson. 

"A  thin  diet,  sometimes,"  Curtis  replied.  He 
turned  to  Elsie.  "Your  studio  is  all  ready  for  you, 
and  I  have  spoken  to  a  number  of  the  head  men 
about  you.  You'll  not  lack  sitters.  They  are  eager 
to  be  immortalized  at  your  convenience." 

"  You  are  most  kind — I  am  going  to  work  as  never 
before." 

"You  mustn't  work  too  hard.  I  have  a  plan  for 
an  outing.  One  of  my  districts  lies  up  in  the  head- 
waters of  the  Willow.  I  propose  that  we  all  go  camp- 
ing up  there  for  a  couple  of  weeks." 

"Do  you  hear  that,  Osborne?"  she  called,  turning 
her  head. 

"I  did  not— what  is  it?" 

Curtis  repeated  his  suggestion,  and  Parker  shouted 
with  joy.  "Just  what  I  want  to  do,"  he  said. 

Curtis  went  on :  "  We'll  find  the  redman  living 
there  under  much  more  favorable  conditions  than 

143 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

down  in  the  hot  valley.  We  have  a  saw-mill  up  in 
the  pines,  and  the  ladies  can  stay  in  the  superin- 
tendent's house — " 

"Oh  no!"  interrupted  Elsie.  "We  must  camp. 
Don't  think  of  putting  us  under  a  roof."  A  little 
later  she  said,  in  a  low  voice  :  "  Father  is  in  Chicago, 
and  expects  to  be  out  here  later.  I  mean,  he's  com- 
ing to  make  a  tour  of  the  State." 

"How  is  his  health?"  Curtis  asked,  politely. 

Her  face  clouded.  "He's  not  at  all  well.  He  is 
older  than  he  realizes.  I  can  see  he  is  failing,  and  he 
ought  not  to  go  into  this  senatorial  fight."  After 
a  pause  she  said :  "  He  was  quite  ill  in  March,  and 
I  nursed  him;  he  seemed  very  grateful,  and  we've 
been  very  good  friends  since." 

"I'm  glad  of  that,"  he  replied,  and  bent  closely  to 
his  driving. 

"  You  drive  well,  Captain. " 

"  An  Indian  agent  needs  to  be  able  to  do  anything." 

"May  I  drive?" 

"  You  will  spoil  your  gloves. " 

"Please!  I'll  take  them  off.  I'm  a  famous  whip/' 
She  smiled  at  him  with  such  understanding  as  they 
had  never  before  reached,  as  she  stripped  her  gloves 
from  her  hands  and  dropped  them  at  her  feet.  "  Now 
let  me  take  the  reins,"  she  said.  He  surrendered 
them  to  her  unhesitatingly. 

"I  believe  you  can  drive,"  he  said,  exultantly. 

Her  hands  were  as  beautiful  as  her  face,  strong 
and  white,  and  exquisitely  modelled ;  but  he,  looking 
upon  them  with  keen  admiration,  caught  the  gleam 
of  a  diamond  on  the  engagement  finger.  This  should 
not  have  chilled  him,  but  it  did.  Then  he  thought: 

144 


ELSIE   REVISITS   CURTIS 

"It  is  an  engagement  ring.  She  is  now  fairly  bound 
to  Lawson,"  and  a  light  that  was  within  him  went 
out.  It  was  only  a  tiny,  wavering  flame  of  hope,  but 
it  had  been  burning  in  opposition  to  his  will  all  the 
year. 

As  she  drove,  they  talked  about  the  grasses  and 
flowers,  the  mountain  range  far  beyond,  the  camping 
trip,  and  a  dozen  other  impersonal  topics  which  did 
not  satisfy  Curtis,  though  he  had  no  claim  to  more 
intimate  phrase.  She,  on  her  part,  was  perfectly 
happy,  and  retained  her  hold  of  the  reins  and  the  whip 
in  spite  of  his  protest. 

"You  must  not  spoil  your  beautiful  hands/'  he 
protested;  "they  are  for  higher  things.  Please  re- 
turn the  lines  to  me/' 

"Oh  no!  Please!  Just  another  half  -  hour  —  till 
we  reach  that  butte.  I'm  stronger  than  you  think. 
I  am  accustomed  to  the  whip/' 

She  had  her  way  in  this,  and  drove  nearly  the  en- 
tire afternoon.  When  he  took  the  reins  at  last,  her 
fingers  were  cramped  and  swollen,  but  her  face  was 
deeply  flushed  with  pleasure. 

"I've  had  a  delicious  drive,"  she  gratefully  re- 
marked. 

At  the  foot  of  a  tall  butte  Curtis  turned  his  team 
and  struck  into  a  road  leading  to  the  left.  This  road 
at  once  descended  upon  a  crescent-shaped,  natural 
meadow  enclosed  by  a  small  stream,  like  a  babe  in  a 
sheltering  arm.  All  about  were  signs  of  its  use  as  a 
camping-ground.  Sweat  lodges,  broken  tepee-poles, 
piles  of  blackened  stones,  and  rings  of  bowlders  told 
of  the  many  fires  that  had  been  built.  Willows  fringed 
the  creek,  while  to  the  south  and  west  rose  a  tall,  bare 

145 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

hill,  on  which  a  stone  tower  stood  like  a  sentinel  war- 
rior. 

Elsie  cried  out  in  delight  of  the  place.  "Isn't  it 
romantic!"  Already  the  sun,  sinking  behind  the 
hill,  threw  across  the  meadow  a  mysterious  purple 
gloom,  out  of  which  a  couple  of  tents  gleamed  like 
gray  bowlders. 

"  There  is  your  house  to-night/'  said  Curtis.  "  See 
the  tents?" 

"  How  tiny  they  look  1"  Elsie  exclaimed,  in  a  hushed 
voice,  as  though  fearing  to  alarm  and  put  them  to 
flight. 

"They  are  small,  but  as  night  falls  you  will  be 
amazed  to  discover  how  snug  and  homelike  they 
can  become/' 

Two  Horns  came  to  meet  them,  and  Parker  cried 
out,  "Hello!  see  the  big  Indian  I" 

The  chief  greeted  Lawson  with  a  deep  and  hearty 
"Hah!  Nawson  —  my  friend.  How!  How!"  And 
Lawson,  with  equal  ceremony,  replied,  in  Dakota : 

"I  am  well,  my  brother;  how  is  it  with  you?" 

"My  heart  is  warm  towards  you." 

Elsie  gave  him  her  hand,  and  he  took  it  without 
embarrassment  or  awrkwardness.  "I  know  you; 
you  make  pictures,"  he  said,  in  his  own  tongue. 

"Jerusalem,  but  he's  a  stunner!"  said  Parker. 
"Hello,  old  man!  How  you  vass,  ain't  it?"  and  he 
clapped  the  old  man  on  the  shoulder. 

Two  Horns  looked  at  him  keenly,  and  the  smile  faded 
from  his  face.  "  Huh !  Big  f  ool/ '  he  said  to  Lawson. 

"You  mustn't  talk  to  an  Indian  like  that,  Parker, 
if  you  expect  to  have  his  friendship,"  said  Lawson. 
"Two  Horns  hates  over-familiarity." 

146 


ELSIE    REVISITS   CURTIS 

"Oh,  he  does,  does  he?"  laughed  Parker.  "Kind 
of  a  Ward  McAllister,  hey?" 

Lawson,  a  little  later,  said,  privately :  "  That  was 
a  bad  break,  Parker ;  you  really  must  treat  these  head 
men  with  decent  respect  or  they  11  hoodoo  you  so 
you  can't  get  any  models.  Two  Horns  is  a  gentle- 
man, and  you  must  at  least  equal  him  in  reserve 
and  dignity  or  he  will  report  you  a  buffoon/' 

Parker,  who  had  done  his  figures  from  models  pro- 
cured in  Paris  from  Buffalo  Bill's  show,  opened  his 
eyes  wide. 

"Lawson,  you're  joking!" 

"You'll  find  every  word  I  tell  you  true.  I  advise 
you  to  set  to  work  now  and  remove  your  bad  impres- 
sion from  Two  Horns,  who  is  one  of  the  three  princi- 
pal chiefs.  You  can't  come  out  here  and  clap  these 
people  on  the  back  and  call  'em  'old  hoss.'  That 
will  do  in  some  of  the  stories  you  read,  but  realities 
are  different.  You'll  find  money  won't  command 
these  people,  either." 

"  I  thought  they  liked  to  be  treated  as  equals?" 

"They  do,  but  they  don't  like  to  have  a  stranger 
too  free  and  easy.  You  haven't  been  introduced 

yet." 

While  Crane's  Voice  attended  to  the  teams,  Jennie 
and  Two  Horns  worked  at  getting  supper.  Their 
comradeship  was  charming  to  see,  and  the  Parkers 
looked  on  with  amazement.  Two  Horns,  deft,  atten- 
tive, careful,  anticipated  every  want.  Nothing  could 
be  finer  than  the  perfectly  cheerful  assistance  he  ren- 
dered the  pretty  cook.  His  manner  was  like  that  of 
an  elder  brother  rather  than  that  of  a  servant. 

"1  didn't  suppose  Indians  ever  worked  around  a 
147 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

camp,   and    especially    with    a    woman/'   remarked 
Parker. 

"What  you  don't  know  about  Indians  is  still  a 
large  volume,  Parker/'  retorted  Lawson.  "If  you 
stay  around  with  this  outfit  for  a  few  weeks  you'll 
gather  a  great  deal  of  information  useful  for  a  sculp- 
tor of  redmen." 

Elsie  took  Lawson  mildly  to  task  for  his  sharp 
reply. 

Lawson  admitted  that  it  made  him  impatient  wrhen 
a  man  like  Parker  opened  his  mouth  on  things  he  knew 
nothing  about.  "You  never  can  tell  what  your  best 
friend  will  do,  can  you?  Parker  is  decidedly  fresh. 
If  he  keeps  on  he'll  become  tiresome." 

El  vie  presumed  on  her  enormous  experience  of  three 
months  on  the  reservation,  and  gave  Parker  many 
valuable  hints  of  how  to  wheedle  the  Tetongs  in  per- 
sonal contact. 

"It  seems  I'm  being  schooled,"  he  complained. 

"You  need  it,"  was  Lawson's  disconcerting  reply. 

As  night  fell,  and  the  fire  began  to  glow  in  the  cool, 
sweet  dark  with  increasing  power,  they  all  sat  round 
the  flame  and  planned  the  trip  into  the  mountains. 

"I  have  some  Tetongs  up  there  who  are  disposed 
to  keep  very  clear  of  the  agency.  Red  Wolf  is  their 
head  man.  You  may  all  go  with  me  and  see  my 
council  with  him  if  you  like." 

"Oh!  that  will  be   glorious  fun!"  cried  Elsie. 

But  Parker  asked,  a  little  anxiously,  "  You  think 
it  safe?"  which  amused  Curtis,  and  Parker  hastened 
to  explain :  "  You've  no  idea  what  a  bad  reputation 
these  Tetongs  have.  Anyhow,  I  would  not  feel  justi- 
fied in  taking  Mrs.  Parker  into  any  danger/' 

148 


ELSIE   REVISITS   CURTIS 

"  She  is  quite  safe/"  replied  Curtis.  "  I  will  answei 
for  the  action  of  my  wards/' 

"Well,  if  you  are  quite  surel" 

"  How  far  away  Washington  seems  nowl"  remarked 
Elsie,  after  a  silence.  "I  feel  as  if  I  had  gone  back 
to  the  very  beginning  of  things/' 

"It  seems  the  end  of  things  for  the  Tetongs,"  re- 
plied Lawson.  "  We  forget  that  fact  sometimes  when 
we  are  anxious  to  have  them  change  to  our  ways. 
Barring  out  a  few  rudenesses,  their  old  life  was  a 
beautiful  adaptation  of  organism  to  environment. 
Isn't  that  so,  Curtis?" 

"It  certainly  had  its  idyllic  side/' 

"  But  they  must  have  been  worried  to  death  for  fear 
of  getting  scalped,"  said  Parker. 

"  Oh,  they  didn't  war  much  till  the  white  man  came 
to  disturb  them,  by  crowding  one  tribe  into  another 
tribe's  territory.  Their  'wars'  were  small  affairs — 
hardly  more  than  skirmishes.  That  they  were  in- 
frequent is  evident  from  the  importance  given  small 
forays  in  their  '  winter  counts/  ' 

One  by  one  the  campers  began  to  yawn,  and  Jen- 
nie and  Mrs.  Parker  withdrew  into  the  tent  reserved 
for  the  women,  but  Lawson  and  Elsie  and  Curtis 
still  remained  about  the  fire.  The  girl's  eyes  were 
wide  with  excitement.  "Isn't  it  delicious  to  be  a 
little  speck  of  life  in  this  limitless  world  of  darkness? 
Osborne,  why  didn't  we  camp  last  year?" 

"  I  proposed  it,  but  Mattie  would  not  hear  to  it.  I 
have  a  notion  that  you  also  put  my  suggestion  aside 
with  scorn." 

She  protested  that  he  was  mistaken.  "It  is  the 
only  way  to  get  close  to  these  wild  people.  I  begin 

149 


THE  CAPTAIN  OP  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

to  understand  them  as  I  sit  here  beside  this  fire.  What 
do  you  suppose  Two  Horns  is  thinking  about  as  he 
sits  over  there  smoking?" 

As  they  talked,  Lawson  began  to  yawn  also,  and 
at  last  said :  "  Elsie  Bee  Bee,  I  am  sleepy,  and  I  know 
Curtis  is." 

"Not  at  all,"  protested  Curtis.  "I'm  just  coming 
to  myself.  As  the  camp-fire  smoulders  the  night 
is  at  its  best.  Besides,  I'm  in  the  midst  of  a 
story." 

"Well,  I  didn't  sleep  very  well  last  night,"  began 
Lawson,  apologetically.  "I  think  —  if  you  don't 
mind—" 

"  Go  to  bed,  Sleepy  Head,"  laughed  Elsie.  "  We'll 
excuse  you." 

"  I  believe  I  will/'  and  off  he  went,  leaving  the  two 
young  people  alone. 

"  Go  on ! "  cried  Elsie.     "  Tell  me  all  about  it. " 

Curtis  glowed  with  new  fire  at  this  proof  of  her  in- 
terest. "  Well,  there  we  were,  Sergeant  Pierce,  Stand- 
ing Elk,  and  myself,  camped  in  Avalanche  Basin, 
which  at  that  time  of  the  year  is  as  full  of  storms 
as  a  cave  is  of  bats."  A  yelping  cry  on  the  hill 
back  of  them  interrupted  him.  "There  goes  a  coy- 
ote! Now  the  night  is  perfect/'  he  ended,  with  a 
note  of  exultant  poetry. 

She  drew  a  little  nearer  to  him.  "I  don't  enjoy 
that  cry  as  well  as  you  do,"  she  said,  with  a  touch  of 
delicious  timidity  in  her  voice.  "That's  the  woman 
of  it,  isn't  it?" 

"I  know  how  harmless  he  is."  After  a  pause,  he 
slowly  said :  "  This  is  the  farthest  reach  of  the  im- 
aginable— that  you  should  sit  here  beside  my  fire  in 

150 


ELSIE   REVISITS   CURTIS 

this  wild  land.  It  must  seem  as  much  of  a  dream  to 
you  as  your  splendid  home  was  to  me." 

"I  didn't  suppose  these  things  could  shake  me  so. 
How  mysterious  the  world  is  when  night  makes  it 
lone  and  empty!  I  never  realized  it  before.  That 
hill  behind  us,  and  the  wolf — and  see  those  willows 
by  the  brook.  They  might  be  savages  creeping  upon 
us,  or  great  birds  resting,  or  any  silent,  threatening 
creature  of  the  darkness.  If  I  were  alone  my  heart 
would  stand  still  with  awe  and  fear  of  them." 

"They  are  not  mysterious  to  me,"  he  made  an- 
swer. "Only  in  the  sense  that  space  and  dusk  are 
inexplicable.  After  all,  the  wonder  of  the  universe 
is  in  our  brains,  like  love,  rather  than  in  the  object 
to  which  we  attribute  mystery  or  majesty.  To  the 
Tetong,  the  simplest  thing  belonging  to  the  white 
race  is  mysterious — a  button,  a  cartridge,  a  tin-plate. 
'How  are  they  made?  What  are  they  built  for?'  he 
asks.  So,  deeply  considered,  all  nature  is  inexpli- 
cable to  us  also.  We  white  children  of  the  Great 
Ruler  push  the  mystery  a  little  further  back,  that  is 
all.  Once  I  tried  to  understand  the  universe;  now 
I  am  content  to  enjoy  it." 

"Tell  me,  how  did  you  first  become  interested  in 
these  people?" 

He  hesitated  a  little  before  he  replied.  "Well,  I 
was  always  interested  in  them,  and  when  I  got  out 
among  the  Payonnay  I  tried  to  get  at  their  notions 
of  life;  but  they  are  a  strange  people — a  secretive 
people — and  I  couldn  't  win  their  confidence  for  a  long 
time.  One  day  while  on  a  hunting  expedition  I  came 
suddenly  upon  a  crew  of  wood-choppers  who  had  an  old 
man  tied  to  a  tree  and  were  about  to  burn  him  alive — " 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"Horrible!     Why?" 

"No  reason  at  all,  so  far  as  I  could  learn.  His 
wife  sat  on  the  ground  not  far  away,  wailing  in  deep 
despair.  What  treatment  she  had  suffered  I  do  not 
know.  Naturally,  I  ordered  the  men  to  release  the 
old  man,  and  when  they  refused  I  cut  his  bands. 
The  ruffians  were  furious  with  rage,  and  threatened 
to  tie  me  up  and  burn  me,  too.  By  this  time  I  was 
too  angry  to  fear  anything.  'If  you  do,  you  better 
pulverize  the  buttons  on  my  uniform,  for  the  United 
States  government  will  demand  a  head  for  every  one 
of  them/  Had  I  been  a  civilian  they  would  have 
killed  me." 

"They  wouldn't  have  dared!"     Elsie  shuddered. 

"Such  men  dare  do  anything  when  they  are  safe 
from  discovery — and  there  is  always  the  Indian  to 
whom  a  deed  of  that  sort  can  be  laid." 

"  Did  they  release  the  old  man?" 

"Yes;  and  he  and  his  wife  camped  along  with  me 
for  several  days,  and  their  devotion  to  me  was  pa- 
thetic. Finally  I  came  to  understand  that  he  consid- 
ered himself  dead,  so  far  as  his  tribe  was  concerned. 
'My  life  belongs  to  you/  he  said.  I  was  just  begin- 
ning the  sign  language  at  that  time  and  I  couldn't 
get  very  far  with  him,  but  I  made  him  understand 
that  I  gave  his  life  back  to  him.  He  left  me  at  last 
and  returned  to  the  tribe.  Thereafter,  every  redman 
I  met  called  me  friend,  and  patiently  sat  while  I 
struggled  to  learn  his  language.  As  I  grew  pro- 
ficient they  told  me  things  they  had  concealed  from 
all  white  men.  I  ceased  to  be  an  enemy,  l  became 
an  adviser,  a  chief." 

"Did  you  ever  see  the  old  man  again?" 
152 


ELSIE  REVISITS   CURTIS 

"Oh  yes.  He  was  my  guide  on  several  hunting 
expeditions.  Poor  old  Siyeh,  he  died  of  small  -  pox. 
'The  white  man's  disease/  he  called  it,  bitterly.  He 
wanted  to  see  me,  but  when  he  understood  that  I 
would  be  endangered  thereby,  he  said:  'It  is  well — 
I  will  die  alone;  but  tell  him  I  fold  my  hands  on  my 
breast  and  his  hand  is  between  my  palms/'  The 
soldier's  voice  grew  hard  and  dry  as  the  memory  of 
the  old  man's  death  returned  upon  him. 

Elsie  shuddered  with  a  new  emotion.  "  You  make 
my  head  whirl — you  and  the  night.  Did  that  de- 
termine your  course  with  regard  to  them?" 

"  Yes.  I  resolved  to  get  at  their  hearts — their  inner 
thoughts — and  my  commanders  put  me  forward  from 
time  to  time  as  interpreter,  where  I  could  serve  both 
the  army  and  the  redman.  In  some  strange  way 
all  the  Northwest  tribes  came  to  know  of  me,  and  I 
could  go  where  few  men  could  follow  me.  It  is  curi- 
ous, but  they  never  did  seem  strange  to  me.  From 
the  first  time  I  met  an  Indian  I  felt  that  he  was  a  man 
like  other  men — a  father,  a  son,  a  brother,  like  any- 
body else.  Naturally,  when  the  plan  for  enlisting 
redmen  into  the  cavalry  came  to  be  worked  out,  I 
was  chosen  to  command  a  troop  of  Shi-an-nay.  I 
received  my  promotion  at  that  time.  My  detail  as 
Indian  agent  came  from  the  same  cause,  I  suppose. 
I  was  known  to  be  a  friend  of  the  redman,  and  the 
department  is  now  experimenting  with  'Curtis  of 
the  Gray -Horse  Troop/"  he  added,  with  a  smile. 
"Such  is  the  story  of  my  life." 

"How  long  will  you  remain  Indian  agent?" 

"  Till  I  can  demonstrate  my  theory  that,  properly 
led,  these  people  can  be  made  happy." 

153 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"I  am  afraid  you  will  live  here  until  you  are  old/1 
she  said,  and  there  was  a  note  of  undefinable  regret 
in  her  voice.  "  I  begin  to  feel  that  you  really  have  a 
problem  to  solve." 

"  It  lies  with  us,  the  dominant  race/'  he  said,  slowly, 
"whether  the  red  race  shall  die  or  become  a  strand 
in  the  woof  of  our  national  life.  It  is  a  question  of 
saving  our  own  souls,  not  of  making  them  grotesque 
caricatures  of  American  farmers.  1  am  not  of  those 
who  believe  in  teaching  creeds  that  are  dying  out  of 
our  own  life;  to  be  clean,  to  be  peaceful,  to  be  happy 
— these  are  the  precepts  I  would  teach  them/' 

"  I  don't  understand  you,  and  I  think  I  would  bet- 
ter go  to  bed/'  she  said,  with  a  return  to  her  ordinary 
manner.  "  Good-night. " 

"Good-night,"  he  replied,  and  in  the  utterance  of 
those  words  was  something  that  stirred  her  unac- 
countably. 

"He  makes  life  too  serious,  and  too  full  of  re- 
sponsibility," she  thought.  "I  don't  like  to  feel 
responsible.  All  the  same,  he  is  fine/'  she  added, 
in  conclusion. 


XV 

ELSIE  ENTERS  HER  STUDIO 

ELSIE,  being  young  and  of  flamelike  vitality,  was 
up  and  ready  for  a  walk  while  Two  Horns  was 
building  the  fire,  and  was  trying  to  make  him  un- 
derstand her  wish  to  paint  him,  when  Curtis  emerged 
from  his  tent. 

"Good-morning,  Captain,"  she  called.  "Fm  glad 
you've  come.  Please  tell  Two  Horns  I  want  to  have 
him  sit  for  me." 

Curtis,  with  a  few  swift  gestures,  conveyed  her 
wishes  to  Two  Horns,  who  replied  in  a  way  which 
made  Curtis  smile. 

Elsie  asked,  "What  does  he  say?" 

"He  says,  'Yes,  how  much?' ' 

"Oh,  the  mercenary  thing!" 

"Not  at  all,"  replied  Curtis.  "His  time  is  worth 
something.  You  artists  think  the  redmen  ought  to 
sit  for  nothing." 

Two  Horns  ran  through  a  swift  and  very  graceful 
series  of  signs,  which  Curtis  translated  rapidly. 

"He  says:  'I  have  heard  of  you.  You  painted 
Elk's  daughter.  I  hear  you  sell  these  pictures  and 
catch  a  great  pile  of  money.  I  think  it  is  right  you 
pay  us  something  when  we  stand  before  you  for  long 
hours,  while  you  make  pictures  to  sell  to  rich  men  in 

155 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

Washington.  Now,  I  drive  a  team ;  I  earn  some  days 
two  dollars  driving  team.  If  I  stop  driving  team, 
and  come  and  sit  for  you,  then  I  lose  my  two  dol- 
lars.'" 

As  he  finished,  Two  Horns  smiled  at  Elsie  with  a 
sly  twinkle  in  his  eyes  which  disconcerted  her.  "  You 
sabbe?"  he  ended,  speaking  directly  to  her. 

"I  sabbe,"  she  said,  in  reply. 

"Good!"  He  held  out  his  hand  and  she  took  it, 
and  the  bargain  was  sealed.  He  then  returned  to  his 
work  about  the  camp. 

"Isn't  it  glorious!"  the  girl  cried,  as  she  looked 
about  her.  "It's  enough  to  do  an  artist  all  over 
new."  The  grass  and  the  willows  sparkled  with 
dew-drops.  The  sky,  cloudless  save  for  one  long, 
low,  orange-and-purple  cape  of  glory  just  above  the 
sunrise,  canopied  a  limitless  spread  of  plain  to  the 
north  and  east,  while  the  high  butte  to  the  back  was 
like  the  wall  of  a  temple. 

"Oh,  let's  take  a  run  up  that  hill/'  Elsie  said,  with 
sudden  change  of  tone.  "Come!"  and,  giving  Cur- 
tis no  time  to  protest,  she  scuttled  away,  swift  as  a 
partridge.  He  followed  her,  calling : 

"Wait  a  moment,  please!" 

When  he  overtook  her  at  the  foot  of  the  first  incline 
she  was  breathless,  but  her  eyes  were  joyous  as  a 
child's  and  her  cheeks  were  glowing. 

"Let  me  help  you,"  he  said;  "and  if  you  slip, 
don't  put  your  hand  on  the  ground ;  that  is  the  way 
men  get  snake-bitten." 

"Snakes!"  She  stopped  short  ''I  forgot  —  are 
there  rattlesnakes  here?" 

"There  is  always  danger  on  the  sunny  side  of 

156 


ELSIE  ENTERS   HER  STUDIO 

these  buttes  at  this  time  of  the  year,  especially  where 
the  rocks  crop  out." 

"Why  didn't  you  tell  me?" 

"You  didn't  give  me  time." 

"Do  you  really  think  there  is  danger?" 

"Not  if  you  walk  slowly  and  follow  me;  I'll  draw 
their  poison.  After  they  bite  me  they'll  have  no 
virus  left  for  you." 

She  began  to  smile  roguishly.  "  You  are  tired — 
you  want  an  excuse  to  rest." 

"If  I  thought  you  meant  that,  I'd  run  up  to  the 
summit  and  back  again  to  show  you  that  I'm  younger 
than  my  years." 

She  clapped  her  hands.  "  Do  it!  It  will  be  like  the 
knight  in  the  story — the  glove-and-lion  story." 

"No.  On  reflection,  I  will  not  run;  it  would  com- 
promise my  dignity.  We  will  climb  soberly,  side  by 
side,  like  Darby  and  Joan  on  the  hill  of  life." 

With  a  demure  countenance  she  took  his  hand,  and 
they  scrambled  briskly  up  the  slope.  When  they 
reached  the  brow  of  the  hill  she  was  fairly  done  up, 
while  he,  breathing  easily,  showed  little  fatigue,  al- 
though she  had  felt  his  powerful  arm  sustaining  her 
many  times  on  the  steeper  slopes.  She  could  not 
speak,  and  he  smilingly  said, "  I  hope  I  haven't  hur- 
ried you?" 

"You  —  are  —  strong,"  she  admitted,  brokenly. 
"I'm  not  tired,  but  I  can't  get  breath." 

At  length  they  reached  the  summit  and  looked 
about.  "What  is  the  meaning  of  those  little  towers 
of  stone?"  she  asked,  after  a  moment's  rest. 

"Oh,  they  have  different  meanings.  Sometimes 
they  locate  the  springs  of  water,  sometimes  they 

157 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

cate  the  course  of  a  trail.  This  one  was  put  here  by 
a  young  fellow  to  mark  the  spot  from  whence  he  saw 
a  famous  herd  of  buffalo — what  time  he  made  a  won- 
derful killing." 

"  I  suppose  all  this  land  has  been  the  hunting-ground 
of  these  people  for  ages.  Do  you  suppose  they  had 
names  for  hills  like  this,  and  were  fond  of  them  like 
white  people?" 

"Certainly.  They  had  a  geography  of  their  own 
as  complete  in  its  way  as  ours,  and  they  are  wonder- 
fully sure  of  direction  even.  now.  They  seldom  make 
a  mistake  in  the  correlative  positions  of  streams  or 
mountains,  even  when  confused  by  a  white  man's 
map." 

"It  is  wonderful,  isn't  it— that  they  should  have 
lived  here  all  those  years  without  knowing  or  caring 
for  the  white  man's  world?" 

"  They  don't  care  for  it  now — but  I  see  Two  Horns 
signalling  that  breakfast  is  ready,  so  we  had  better 
go." 

"Let's  run  down!" 

"  Wait !  *  He  caught  her.  "  It  will  lame  you  fright- 
fully, I  warn  you." 

"Oh  no,  it  won't." 

"Very  well,  experience  is  a  fine  school.  If  you 
must  run  down,  we'll  go  down  the  shadowed  side. 
Now  I'll  let  you  get  half-way  down  and  beat  you  in, 
after  all.  One,  two,  three — go!" 

With  her  skirt  caught  up  in  her  hand,  she  started 
down  the  hill  in  reckless  night.  She  heard  his  shout 
and  the  thud  of  his  prodigious  leaps,  and  just  as  she 
reached  the  level  he  overtook  her  and  relentlessly 
left  her  far  behind.  Discouraged  and  panting,  she 

158 


ELSIE  ENTERS   HER   STUDIO 

fell  into  a  walk  and  waited  for  him  to  return,  as  she 
knew  he  would. 

"Oh,  these  skirts!"  she  said,  resentfully.  "What 
chance  has  a  woman  with  yards  of  cloth  binding  her? 
I  nearly  tumbled  headlong/' 

He  did  not  make  her  suffer  for  her  defeat,  and  they 
returned  to  camp  gay  as  a  couple  of  children.  Law- 
son  smiled  benevolently,  like  an  aged  uncle,  while 
Elsie  told  him  of  their  climb.  Said  he :  "  When  you're 
as  old  as  I  am  you  will  wait  for  wonders  to  come  your 
way;  you  will  not  seek  them." 

The  breakfast  was  made  merry  by  Jennie,  who 
waged  gentle  warfare  on  Parker,  whose  preconceived 
ideas  of  the  people  resident  on  an  Indian  reservation 
had  been  shaken. 

"Why,  you're  very  decent,"  he  admitted  at  last. 

"They  are  all  like  us — nit,"  replied  Jennie.  "We're 
marked  'special." 

"Couldn't  be  any  more  like  you,  sis,"  said  Curtis. 

"You  shouldn't  say  that." 

"Well,  it  needed  saying,  and  no  one  else  seemed 
ready  to  do  it.  If  Calvin  had  been  here!" 

"Who  is  Calvin?"  asked  Mrs.  Parker. 

"I  know!"  cried  Elsie.  "He's  one  of  the  hand- 
somest young  cowboys  you  ever  saw.  If  you  want 
to  do  a  cow-puncher,  Parker,  he's  your  model." 

"I  certainly  must  see  him.  It  I  don't  do  a  cow- 
boy or  a  bucking  bronco  I'm  a  failure." 

As  they  were  ready  to  start,  Elsie  again  took  her 
place  beside  Curtis,  but  Lawson  insisted  on  sitting 
behind  with  Jennie.  "  It's  hard  luck,  Parker,  to 
have  to  sit  with  your  wife,"  he  said,  compassion- 
ately. 

159 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"Oh,  well!  I'm  used  to  disappointments/'  Parker 
replied,  in  resigned  calm. 

Elsie  felt  the  need  of  justifying  herself.  "Are  you 
complaining?  Am  I  the  assistant  driver,  or  am  I 
not?  If  I  am,  here  is  where  I  belong/' 

"When  I  was  coaching  in  Scotland  once — "  began 
Lawson. 

"Oh,  never  mind  Scotland!"  interrupted  Elsie. 
"See  that  chain  of  peaks?  Aren't  they  gorgeous! 
Do  we  camp  there?" 

"Yes/'  replied  Curtis.  "Just  where  that  fan- 
shaped  belt  of  timber  begins,  I  hope  to  set  our  tent. 
The  agency  is  just  between  those  dark  ridges." 

"It  is  strange,"  Elsie  said,  after  a  pause.  "Last 
year  I  was  wondering  at  everything ;  now  I  am  look- 
ing for  familiar  things." 

"That  is  the  second  stage,"  he  answered.  "The 
third  will  be  sympathy." 

"What  will  the  fourth  be?" 

"Affection." 

"And  the  fifth?" 

"Devotion." 

She  laughed.  "You  place  too  high  a  value  on 
your  Western  land." 

"  I  admit  there  is  to  me  great  charm  in  these  barren 
foot-hills  and  the  great  divide  they  lead  up  to,"  he 
soberly  answered. 

As  they  talked,  the  swift  little  horses  drummed 
along  the  hard  road,  and  by  the  time  the  agency  flag- 
pole came  in  view  they  had  passed  over  their  main 
points  of  difference,  and  were  chatting  gayly  on  topics 
not  controversial.  Elsie  was  taking  her  turn  with  the 
reins,  her  face  flushed  with  the  joy  and  excitement 

1 60 


ELSIE  ENTERS  HER   STUDIO 

\ 

of  it,  while  Jennie  and  Mrs.  Parker,  shrieking  with 
pretended  fear,  clung  to  their  seats  with  frenzied  clasp. 

Curtis  was  as  merry  as  a  boy,  and  his  people,  seeing 
him  come  in  smiling  and  alert,  looked  at  each  other 
in  amazement,  and  Crow  Wing  said : 

"Our  Little  Father  has  found  a  squaw  at  last/' 

Whereas,  as  her  lover,  Curtis  had  been  careful  to 
consider  the  effect  of  every  word,  he  now  went  to  Elsie's 
service  as  frankly  as  Lawson  himself,  and  his  thought- 
fulness  touched  her  deeply.  Her  old  studio  had  been 
put  in  order,  and  contained  all  needful  furniture,  and 
her  sleeping  apartment  looked  very  clean  and  very 
comfortable  indeed. 

Jennie  apologized.  "Of  course,  it's  like  camping 
compared  to  your  own  splendid  home,  but  George 
vSaid  you  wouldn't  mind  that,  being  an  artist.  He 
has  an  idea  an  artist  can  sleep  in  a  palace  one  night 
and  a  pigstjr  the  next,  and  rejoice." 

"He  isn't  so  very  far  wrong/'  Elsie  valiantly  re- 
plied.    "Of  course,  the  pigsty  is  a  little  bit  extreme 
This  is  good  enough  for  any  one.      You  are  very 
kind/'  she  added,  softly.     "It  was  good  of  him  to 
take  so  much  trouble." 

"George  is  the  best  man  I  ever  knew,"  replied  Jen- 
nie. "That's  why  I've  never  been  able  to  leave  him 
for  any  other  man."  She  smiled  shrewdly.  "I'll 
admit  that  eligible  men  have  been  scarce,  and  my 
chances  have  been  few.  Well,  I  must  run  across  and 
look  after  dinner.  You're  to  eat  with  us  till  you  get 
settled.  We  insist  on  being  hosts  this  time." 

"Surely,"  said  Curtis,  as  they  rose  from  the  table, 
"  being  Indian  agent  is  not  the  grim,  vexatious  ex- 
«  161 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

perience  I  once  considered  it.  If  the  charm  of  such 
company  should  get  reckoned  in  as  one  of  the  per- 
quisites of  the  office,  the  crush  of  applicants  would 
thicken  into  a  riot.  I  find  it  hard  to  return  to  my 
work  in  the  office." 

"  Don't  be  hasty;  we  may  turn  out  to  be  nuisances/' 
responded  Elsie. 


XVI 

THE  CAMP  AMONG  THE  ROSES 

DURING  the  remainder  of  the  day  the  agent  found 
office  work  most  difficult.  His  mind  wandered 
to  other  and  pleasanter  things,  and  at  last  he  began 
to  make  out  a  list  of  the  necessaries  for  the  camping 
trip. 

The  next  day,  about  four  o'clock,  Crow  Wing  and 
Crawling  Elk  came  into  his  office  bringing  a  young 
Tetong,  who  said  he  had  been  struck  on  the  head  by 
a  sheep-herder. 

Curtis  was  instantly  alert.  "Sit  down  —  all  of 
you!"  he  commanded.  " Now,  Yellow  Hand,  tell  your 
story." 

Yellow  Hand,  a  tall  and  sinister  -  looking  fellow, 
related  his  adventure  sullenly.  "I  was  riding  the 
line  of  the  reservation,  as  Crawling  Elk  had  told  me 
and  as  you  commanded,  when  I  came  upon  this  sheep- 
man driving  his  flocks  across  the  river.  I  hollered 
to  him  to  keep  away,  but  he  kept  on  pushing  the 
sheep  into  the  river ;  then  I  tried  to  drive  them  back. 
This  made  him  angry  and  he  threw  a  rock  at  me,  and 
struck  me  here."  He  touched  his  bandaged  head. 
"1  had  no  gun,  so  I  came  away." 

"Did  you  throw  rocks  at  him?"  asked  Curtis. 

"No,  I  was  on  my  horse." 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"  You  rode  among  his  sheep?" 

"Yes." 

"Well,  that  was  wrong.  You  should  have  reported 
to  me  and  I  would  have  sent  a  policeman.  You  must 
not  make  trouble  with  these  men.  Come  to  me  or  re- 
port to  Grayman,  your  head  man  over  there.  The 
ranchers  are  angry  at  Washington,  and  we  must  be 
careful  not  to  make  them  angry  at  us.  I  will  send 
Crow  back  with  you  and  he  will  remove  this  man." 

As  they  went  out  Curtis  said  to  Wilson :  "  This  is  the 
second  assault  they  have  made  on  our  boys.  They 
seem  determined  to  involve  us  in  a  shooting  scrape, 
in  order  to  influence  Congress.  We  must  be  very 
careful  I  am  afraid  I  ought  not  to  take  this  camp- 
ing trip  just  now." 

"Don't  put  too  much  importance  on  these  little 
scraps,  Major.  Yellow  Hand  is  always  getting  into 
trouble.  He's  quarrelsome. " 

"I'd  disarm  a  few  of  these  reckless  young  fellows 
if  it  would  do  any  good." 

"It  wouldn't.  They'd  simply  borrow  a  gun  of 
some  one,  and  it  won't  do  to  disarm  the  whole  tribe, 
for  if  you  do  these  cowboys  will  swarm  in  here  and 
run  us  all  out." 

"  Well,  caution  every  one  to  be  careful.  I'm  par- 
ticularly anxious  just  now,  on  account  of  our  visitors. " 

"I  don't  think  you  need  to  be,  Major.  You  take 
your  trip  with  your  friends.  I'll  guarantee  nothing 
serious  happens  down  here.  And  as  you  are  not  to 
leave  the  reservation,  I  don't  see  as  the  department 
can  have  any  roar  coming." 

Nevertheless,  it  was  with  some  misgiving  that  Cur- 
tis made  his  final  arrangements  for  the  start.  Crane's 

164 


THE  CAMP  AMONG  THE  ROSES 

Voice  and  Two  Horns  had  interested  Elsie  very  much ;' 
therefore  he  filled  their  places  with  other  men,  and 
notified  them  to  be  in  readiness  to  accompany  the 
expedition,  an  order  which  pleased  them  mightily. 
Mary,  the  mother  of  Crane's  Voice,  was  to  go  along 
as  chief  cook,  under  Jennie's  direction,  while  Two 
Horns  took  general  charge  of  the  camp. 

Elsie  burdened  herself  with  canvases.  "I  don't 
suppose  I'll  paint  a  picture  while  I'm  gone,  but  I'm 
going  to  make  a  bluff  at  it  on  the  start,"  she  said,  as 
she  came  out  and  took  her  place  with  the  driver  amid 
the  mock  lamentations  of  Lawson  and  Parker  and 
Jennie. 

"Can  any  of  you  drive — no!"  replied  Elsie,  in  Ger- 
man fashion.  "  Then  I  am  here. " 

"  I  like  her  impudence,"  said  Lawson. 

As  they  drove  up  the  valley,  Curtis  outlined  his  plan 
for  using  the  water  on  a  huge  agency  garden.  "I 
would  lay  it  out  in  lots  and  mark  every  lot  with  the 
name  of  a  family,  and  require  it  to  be  planted  and 
taken  care  of  by  that  family.  There  are  sites  for 
three  such  gardens,  enough  to  feed  the  entire  tribe, 
but  so  long  as  a  few  white  men  are  allowed  to  use  up 
all  the  water  nothing  can  be  done  but  continue  to  feed 
the  Tetongs  in  idleness,  as  we  are  now  doing." 

As  they  rose  the  grass  grew  greener,  and  at  last 
Elsie  began  to  discover  wild  roses  growing  low  in 
damp  places,  and  at  noon,  when  they  stopped  for 
lunch,  they  were  able  to  eat  in  the  shade  of  a  mur- 
muring aspen,  with  wild  flowers  all  about  them.  The 
stream  was  swift  and  cold  and  clear,  hardly  to  be 
classed  with  the  turbid,  sluggish,  discouraged  cur- 
rent which  seeped  past  the  agency. 

165 


THE  CAPTAIN  OP  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"It  is  a  different  world  up  here/'  Elsie  said,  again 
and  again.  "  I  can't  believe  we  are  only  a  half-day's 
drive  from  the  agency.  I  never  saw  more  delicious 
greens." 

Mrs.  Parker,  being  an  amateur  botanist,  was  filled 
with  delight  of  the  thickening  flowers.  "It  is  ex- 
actly as  if  we  had  begun  in  August  and  were  moving 
backward  towards  spring.  I  feel  as  though  violets 
were  near.  It  is  positively  enchanting. " 

"You'll  camp  beside  violets  to-night,"  replied 
Curtis. 

Lawson  pretended  to  sleep.  Parker  smoked  a  pipe 
while  striding  along  behind  the  wagon.  Elsie  drove, 
and  of  course  Curtis  could  not  leave  her  to  guide  the 
team  alone.  Necessarily,  they  talked  freely  on  many 
topics,  and  all  restraint,  all  reserve,  were  away  at  last. 
It  is  difficult  to  hold  a  formal  and  carefully  considered 
conversation  in  a  jolting  buckboard  climbing  towards 
a  great  range  of  shining  peaks,  and  every  frank 
speech  brought  them  into  friendlier  relation.  Con- 
sidered in  this  light,  the  afternoon  assumed  vast  im- 
portance. 

At  last,  just  on  the  edge  of  a  small  lake  entirely 
enclosed  by  sparse  pines,  they  drew  into  camp.  To 
the  west  the  top  of  a  snow  mountain  could  be  seen, 
low  down,  and  against  it  a  thin  column  of  blue  smoke 
was  rising.  The  water,  dark  as  topaz  and  smooth  as 
oil,  reflected  the  opposite  shore,  the  yellow  sky,  and 
the  peak  with  magic  clearness,  and  Elsie  was  seized 
with  a  desire  to  do  something. 

"Where  is  my  paint-box?  Here  is  the  background 
for  some  action  —  I  don't  know  what  —  something 
primeval." 

166 


THE   CAMP  AMONG   THE   ROSES 

"An  Indian  in  a  canoe,  a  la  Brush;  or  a  bear 
coming  down  to  drink,  &  la  Bierstadt,"  suggested 
Parker. 

"  Don't  mention  that  old  fogy/'  cried  Elsie. 

Lawson  interposed.  "  Well,  now,  those  old  chaps 
had  something  to  say — and  that's  better  than  your 
modern  Frenchmen  do." 

She  was  soon  at  work,  with  Lawson  and  Parker 
standing  by  her  side,  overlooking  her  panel  and 
offering  advice. 

"There's  no  color  in  that,"  Parker  said,  finally. 
"It's  a  black-and-white  merely.  Its  charm  is  in 
things  you  can't  paint — the  feel  of  the  air,  the  smell 
of  pine  boughs." 

"  Go  away — both  of  you,"  she  commanded,  curtly, 
and  they  retreated  to  the  camp,  where  Curtis  was  set- 
ting the  tents,  and  Jennie,  old  Mary,  and  Two  Horns, 
with  swift  and  harmonious  action,  were  bringing 
appetizing  odors  out  of  various  cans  and  boxes,  what 
time  the  crackle  of  the  fire  increased  to  a  gentle  roar. 
There  they  sat  immovably,  shamelessly  waiting  till 
the  call  for  supper  came. 

They  were  all  hungry,  and  Jennie's  cooking  re- 
ceived such  praise  as  comes  from  friends  who  speak 
and  devour — Parker  nearly  devoured  without  speak- 
ing, so  lank  and  empty  was  he  by  reason  of  his  long 
walk.  Elsie  seemed  to  have  forgotten  her  life  of 
luxury,  and  was  reverted  to  a  primitive  stage  of  cult- 
ure wherein  she  found  everything  enjoyable.  Her 
sketch,  propped  up  against  a  basket  by  Curtis,  was 
admired  unreservedly.  Altogether,  the  trouble  and 
toil  of  civilized  life  were  forgotten  tyrants,  so  far  as 
these  few  souls -were  concerned.  They  came  close 

167 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

to  the  peace  and  the  care-free  tranquillity  of  the  red- 
man,  whose  ideals  they  had  come  to  destroy. 

As  soon  as  supper  was  eaten  and  the  men  had 
lighted  their  cigars,  the  whole  party  walked  out  to  the 
edge  of  the  little  pond  and  lounged  about  on  blank- 
ets, and  watched  the  light  go  out  of  the  sky.  Talk 
grew  more  subdued  as  the  beauty  and  the  mystery 
of  the  night  deepened.  Elsie  listened  to  every  sound, 
and  asked  innumerable  questions  of  Curtis.  She 
insisted  on  knowing  the  name  of  every  bird  or  beast 
whose  call  could  be  heard.  The  young  soldier's 
wood-craft  both  pleased  and  astonished  her.  Mrs. 
Parker,  with  her  lap  full  of  botanical  specimens,  was 
absorbed  in  the  work  of  classifying  them.  Parker 
was  a  gentleman  of  leisure,  with  nothing  to  do  but 
watch  the  peaceful  coming  of  the  dusk  and  comment 
largely  on  the  universe. 

It  was  natural  that,  as  host,  Curtis  should  enjoy  a 
large  part  of  Elsie's  company,  but  neither  of  them 
seemed  to  realize  that  Lawson  was  being  left  quite 
unheeded  in  the  background,  but  Jennie  was  aware 
of  this  neglect,  and  put  forth  skilful  effort  to  break 
the  force  of  it.  Lawson  himself  seemed  to  be  entire- 
ly unconscious  of  any  loss  or  threatening  disaster. 

A  little  later,  as  they  sat  watching  the  fire  grow 
in  power  in  the  deepening  darkness,  Curtis  suddenly 
lifted  his  hand. 

"Hark!" 

All  listened.  Two  Horns  spoke  first.  "One  man 
come,  on  horse." 

"Some  messenger  for  me,  probably/'  said  the  Cap- 
tain, composedly.  "He  is  coming  fast,  too." 

As  the  steady  drumming  of  the  horse's  hoofs  in« 
168 


THE  CAMP   AMONG   THE   ROSES 

creased  in  power,  Elsie  felt  something  chill  creep 
beneath  the  roots  of  her  hair.  Perhaps  the  Indians 
had  broken  out  in  war  against  the  whites!  Per- 
haps— 

A  tall  young  Tetong  slipped  from  his  tired  horse 
and  approached  the  Captain.  In  his  extended  hand 
lay  an  envelope,  which  gleamed  in  the  firelight.  As 
Curtis  took  this  letter  the  messenger,  squatting  before 
him,  began  to  roll  a  cigarette.  His  lean  and  power- 
ful face  was  shadowed  by  a  limp  sombrero  and  his 
eyes  were  hidden,  but  his  lips  were  grave  and  calm. 
A  quirt  dangled  from  his  right  wrist,  and  in  the  two 
braids  of  his  hair  green  eagle-plumes  were  twisted. 
The  star  on  the  lapel  of  his  embroidered  vest  showed 
him  to  be  a  police-officer.  From  the  intensity  of  his 
attitude  it  was  plain  he  was  studying  his  agent's 
face  in  order  to  read  thereon  the  character  of  the  mes- 
sage he  had  brought. 

Curtis  turned  the  paper  slowly  and  without  excite- 
ment. With  rapid  signs  he  dismissed  the  courier. 
"I  have  read  it.  You  will  camp  with  Two  Horns. 
Go  get  some  food.  Mary  will  give  you  meat/' 

Turning  to  his  guests,  he  then  said :  "  It  is  nothing 
special — merely  some  papers  I  forgot  to  sign  before 
leaving/' 

"By  George!  what  a  picture  the  fellow  made,  sit- 
ting there!"  said  Parker.  " It  was  like  an  illustration 
in  a  novel.  Why  don't  you  paint  that  kind  of  thing, 
Bee  Bee?" 

"Because  1  can't/'  she  replied.  "Don't  you  sup- 
pose I  saw  it?  I'd  need  the  skill  of  Zorn  to  do  a  thing 
as  big  and  mysterious  as  that.  Did  you  see  the  in- 
tensity of  his  pose?  He  expected  Captain  Curtis  to 

169 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

show  excitement  or  alarm.  He  was  very  curious  to 
know  what  it  was  all  about — don't  you  think  so?*' 

Curtis  was  amused.  "Yes,  I  suppose  he  thought 
the  paper  more  important  than  it  was.  The  settlers 
have  kept  the  tribe  guessing  all  the  spring  by  threats 
of  running  them  off  the  reservation.  Of  course  they 
wouldn't  openly  resort  to  violence,  but  there  are  sev- 
eral irresponsibles  who  would  strike  in  the  dark  if 
they  found  opportunity." 

In  spite  of  his  reassuring  tone,  a  vague  fear  fell 
over  the  camping  party.  Parker  was  frankly  alarmed. 

"  If  you  think  there  is  any  danger,  Captain,  1  want 
to  get  out  o'  here  quick.  I'm  not  here  to  study  the 
Tetong  with  his  war-paint  on." 

"  If  there  had  been  any  danger,  Mr.  Parker,  I  would 
not  have  left  my  office.  I  shall  have  a  report  similar 
to  this  every  day  while  I  am  away,  so  please  be  com- 
posed." 

The  policeman  came  back,  resumed  his  squatting 
position  before  the  fire,  and  began  a  series  of  vigor- 
ous and  dramatic  gestures,  to  which  the  Captain  re- 
plied in  kind,  absorbed,  intent,  with  a  face  as  inscru- 
table as  that  of  the  redman  himself.  The  contrast 
between  the  resolute,  handsome  young  white  man 
and  the  roughhewn  Tetong  was  superb.  "There's 
nothing  in  it  for  me,"  said  Parker,  "but  it's  great 
business  for  a  painter." 

Elsie  seized  a  block  of  paper,  and  with  soft  pencil 
began  to  sketch  them  both  against  the  background 
of  mysterious  blackness,  out  of  which  a  pine  bole 
gleamed  ashy  white. 

Suddenly,  silently,  as  though  one  of  the  tree-trunks 
had  taken  on  life,  another  Tetong  appeared  in  the 

170 


THE    CAMP  AMONG   THE   ROSES 

circle  of  the  firelight  and  stood  with  deep-sunk  eyes 
fastened  on  the  Captain's  face.  Another  followed, 
and  still  others,  till  two  old  men  and  four  young  fel- 
lows ranged  themselves  in  a  semicircle  before  their 
agent,  with  Crane's  Voice  and  Two  Horns  at  the  left 
and  a  little  behind.  The  old  men  smoked  a  long 
pipe,  but  the  young  men  rolled  cigarettes,  taking 
no  part  in  the  council,  listening  the  while  with  eyes 
as  bright  as  those  of  foxes. 

It  was  all  sinister  and  menacing  to  the  Parkers,  and 
all  wondered  till  Curtis  turned  to  say :  "  They  are  my 
mill-hands — good,  faithful  boys,  too." 

"Mill-hands!"  exclaimed  Parker.  "They  looked 
uncommonly  like  a  scalping  party. " 

"That  is  what  imagination  can  do.  I  thought 
your  faces  were  extra  solemn,"  remarked  Curtis, 
dryly ;  but  Lawson  knew  that  the  agent  was  not  so 
untroubled  as  he  pretended,  for  old  Crow  Killer  had 
a  bitter  story  to  relate  of  the  passage  of  a  band  of 
cowboys  through  his  camp.  They  had  stampeded  his 
ponies  and  shot  at  him,  one  bullet  passing  so  close  to 
his  ear  that  it  burned  the  skin,  and  he  was  angry. 

"They  wish  to  kill  us,  these  cattlemen/'  he  said, 
sombrely,  in  conclusion.  "  If  they  come  again  we  will 
fight." 

Happily,  his  vehemence  did  not  reach  the  com- 
prehension of  the  women  nor  the  understanding  of 
Parker,  and  Lawson  smoked  on  as  calmly  as  if  these 
telltale  gestures  were  the  flecking  of  shadows  cast 
by  the  leaping  flames.  At  last  the  red  visitors  rose 
and  vanished  as  silently  as  they  came.  They  seemed 
to  pass  through  black  curtains,  so  suddenly  they 
disappeared. 

171 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

In  spite  of  all  reassurance,  the  women  were  a  little 
reluctant  to  go  to  bed — at  least  Mrs.  Parker  and  Elsie 
were. 

"I  wish  the  men's  tent  were  not  so  far  off/'  Mrs. 
Parker  said  to  Elsie,  plaintively. 

"I'll  ask  them  to  move  it,  if  you  wish/'  returned 
Elsie,  and  when  Jennie  came  in  she  said:  "Aren't 
you  a  little  nervous  to-night?" 

Jennie  looked  surprised.  "Why,  no!  Do  you 
mean  about  sleeping  in  a  tent?" 

"Yes,"  replied  Mrs.  Parker.  "Suppose  a  wolf  or 
a  redman  should  come?" 

Jennie  laughed.  "You  needn't  worry — we  have 
a  powerful  guard.  I  never  am  afraid  with  George. " 

"  But  the  men  are  so  far  away !  I  wish  their  tent 
were  close  beside  ours.  I'm  not  standing  on  pro- 
priety," Mrs.  Parker  added,  as  Jennie  hesitated.  I'm 
getting  nervous,  and  I  want  Jerome  where  he  can 
hear  me  if  I  call  to  him." 

Perceiving  that  Elsie  shared  this  feeling  in  no  small 
degree,  Jennie  soberly  conveyed  their  wish  to  Curtis. 

"Very  well,  we'll  move  over.  It  will  take  but  a 
moment." 

As  she  heard  the  men  driving  the  tent-pegs  close 
beside  her  bed  Mrs.  Parker  sighed  peacefully. 

"  Now  I  can  sleep.  There  is  no  comfort  like  a  man 
in  case  of  wolves,  Indians,  and  burglars,"  and  the  fact 
that  the  men  were  laughing  did  not  disturb  her. 

With  a  little  shock,  Elsie  realized  that  Curtis  and 
not  Lawson  was  in  her  mind  as  her  defender.  Of 
course,  he  was  in  command ;  that  accounted  for  it. 

Nevertheless,  as  she  listened  to  the  murmur  of  their 
voices  she  detected  herself  waiting  for  Curtis 's  crisp, 

172 


THE  CAMP   AMONG   THE    ROSES 

clear  bass,  and  not  for  the  nasal  tenor  of  the  man 
whose  ring  she  wore.  Her  mind  was  filled,  too,  with 
the  dramatic  figure  the  young  officer  made  as  he  sat 
in  gesture-talk  with  his  Tetong  wards.  In  case  of 
trouble  the  safest  place  on  all  the  reservation  would 
be  by  his  side,  for  his  people  loved  and  trusted  him. 
She  did  not  go  to  sleep  easily;  the  excitement,  the 
strangeness  of  being  in  a  tent,  kept  her  alert  long  after 
Jennie  and  Mrs.  Parker  were  breathing  tranquilly  on 
their  cots. 

One  hears  everything  from  a  tent.  It  seems  to 
stand  in  the  midst  of  the  world.  It  is  like  being  in 
a  diving-bell  under  water.  Life  goes  on  almost  un- 
interruptedly. The  girl  heard  a  hundred  obscure, 
singular,  sibilant  sounds,  as  of  serpents  conferring. 
Mysterious  footsteps  advanced,  paused,  retreated. 
Whispered  colloquies  arose  among  the  leaves,  giv- 
ing her  heart  disquiet.  Every  unfamiliar  sound 
was  a  threat.  The  voices  of  birds  and  beasts  no 
longer  interested  her — they  scared  her;  and,  try  as 
she  would  to  banish  these  fancies,  her  nerves  thrilled 
with  every  rush  of  the  wind.  It  was  deep  night  before 
she  dropped  asleep. 


XVII 

A  FLUTE,  A  DRUM,  AND  A  MESSAGE 

ELSIE  dreamed  she  was  at  the  theatre.  The  opera 
was  "II  Trovatore/'  and  at  the  moment  when 
the  prison  song — that  worn  yet  ever-mournful  cry — 
should  have  pulsed  forth;  but  in  its  stead  another 
strain  came  floating  from  afar,  a  short  phrase  equally 
sad,  which  sank  slowly,  as  a  fragment  of  cloud  de- 
scends from  sky  to  earth  to  become  tears  of  dew  on 
the  roses.  Over  and  over  again  it  was  repeated,  so 
sad,  so  sweet,  so  elemental,  it  seemed  that  the  pain  of 
all  love's  vain  regret  was  in  it,  longing  and  sorrow 
and  despair,  without  relief,  without  hope,  defiant  of 
death. 

Slowly  the  walls  of  the  theatre  faded.  The  gray 
light  of  morning  crept  into  the  dreamer's  eyes,  and 
she  was  aware  of  the  walls  of  her  tent  and  knew  she 
had  been  dreaming.  But  the  sorrowful  song  went 
on,  with  occasional  slight  deviations  of  time  and  tone, 
but  always  the  same.  Beginning  on  a  high  key,  it 
fell  by  degrees,  hesitating,  momentarily  swooping 
upward,  yet  ever  falling,  till  at  last  it  melted  in  with 
the  solemn  moan  of  the  pines  stirring  above  her  head. 
Then  she  drowsed  again,  and  seemed  to  be  listening 
to  the  wailing  song  with  some  one  whose  hand  she 
held.  As  she  turned  to  ask  whence  the  music  came 

174 


A   FLUTE,   A   DRUM,   AND   A  MESSAGE 

a  little  shudder  seized  her,  for  the  eyes  looking  into 
hers  were  not  those  of  Lawson.  Curtis  faced  her, 
grave  and  sweet. 

With  this  shock  she  wakened,  but  the  song  had 
ceased.  She  waited  in  silence,  hoping  to  hear  it 
again.  When  fully  aroused  to  her  surroundings, 
she  was  convinced  that  she  had  dreamed  the  music 
as  well  as  the  hand-clasp,  and  a  flush  ran  over  her. 
•'  Why  should  I  dream  in  that  way  of  him  ?" 

She  heard  the  soft  lisp  of  moccasined  feet  outside 
the  tent,  and  immediately  after  the  sound  of  an  axe. 
Presently  the  fire  began  to  crackle,  and  the  rising 
sun  threw  a  flood  of  golden  light  against  the  canvas 
wall.  Jennie  lifted  her  arms  and  yawned,  and  at  last 
sat  up  and  listened.  Catching  Elsie's  eye  she  said : 
"  Good-morning,  dear.  How  did  you  sleep?" 

"Deliciously — but  did  you  hear  some  one  singing 
just  before  sunrise?" 

"No— did  you?" 

"  I  thought  I  did ;  but  perhaps  I  dreamed  it. " 

"Where  did  it  seem  to  come  from?" 

"  Oh,  from  away  off  and  high  up — the  saddest  song 
— a  phrase  constantly  repeated." 

"Oh,  I  know.  It  was  some  young  Tetong  lover 
playing  the  flute.  They  often  do  that  when  the  girls 
are  going  for  water  in  the  morning.  Isn't  it  beautiful?" 

"  I  never  heard  anything  so  sad." 

"  All  their  songs  are  sad.  George  says  the  primi- 
'tive  love-songs  of  all  races  are  the  same.  But  Two 
Horns  has  the  fire  going,  and  I  must  get  up  and  super- 
intend breakfast.  You  need  not  rise  till  I  call." 

Mrs.  Parker  began  to  stir.  "Jerome I  What  time 
is  it?" 

175 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

The  girls  laughed  as  Jerome,  in  the  other  tent,  re- 
plied, sweetly: 

"Time  to  arise,  Honey  Plum," 

Mrs.  Parker  started  up  and  stared  around,  her  eyes 
still  misty  with  slumber.  "1  slept  the  whole  night 
through/'  she  finally  remarked,  as  if  in  answer  to  a 
question,  and  her  voice  expressed  profound  astonish- 
ment. 

"Didn't  hear  the  wolves,  did  you,  pet?"  called 
Parker. 

"Wolves!     No.     Did  they  howl?" 

"Howl  is  no  name  for  it.  They  tied  themselves 
into  double  bow-knots  of  noise." 

"I  don't  believe  it." 

Elsie  replied:  "I  didn't  hear  anything  but  the 
music.  Did  you  hear  the  singing?" 

Lawson  spoke.  "  You  people  have  the  most  active 
imaginations.  All  I  heard  was  the  wind  in  the  pines, 
and  an  occasional  moose  walking  by." 

"Moose!"  cried  Mrs.  Parker.  "Why,  they're  enor- 
mous creatures." 

Jennie  began  to  laugh.  "You  people  will  need  to 
hurry  to  be  ready  for  breakfast.  I'm  going  to  put 
the  coffee  on."  She  slipped  outside.  "Oh,  girls! 
Get  up  at  once,  it's  glorious  out  here  on  the  lake!" 

Curtis  was  busy  about  the  camp-fire.  "Good- 
morning,  sis.  Here  are  some  trout  for  breakfast" 

"Trout!"  shouted  Lawson,  from  the  tent. 

"Trout!"  echoed  Parker.  "We'll  be  there,"  and 
the  tent  bulged  and  flapped  with  his  hasty  efforts  at 
dressing. 

In  gay  spirits  they  gathered  round  their  rude  table, 
Parker  and  Jennie  particularly  jocular.  Curtis  was 


A  FLUTE,  A  DRUM,  AND  A  MESSAGE 

puzzled  by  some  subtle  change  in  Elsie.  Her  gaze 
was  not  quite  so  frank,  and  her  color  seemed  a  little 
more  fitful ;  but  she  was  as  merry  as  a  child,  and 
enjoyed  every  makeshift  as  though  it  were  done  for 
the  first  time  and  for  her  own  amusement. 

"  What's  the  programme  for  to-day?"  asked  Parker. 

"After  I  inspect  the  saw-mill  we  will  hook  up  and 
move  over  the  divide  to  the  head-waters  of  the  Willow 
and  camp  with  Red  Wolf's  band." 

Parker  coughed.  "  Well,  now — of  course,  Captain, 
we  are  depending  on  you." 

Curtis  smiled.  "Perhaps  you'd  like  to  go  back 
to  the  agency?" 

"No,  sirree,  bob!  I'm  sticking  right  to  your  coat- 
tails  till  we're  out  o'  the  woods." 

Lawson  interposed.  "You  wouldn't  infer  that 
Parker  had  ever  had  a  Parisian  education,  would 
you?" 

Parker  was  not  abashed.  "I  know  what  you 
mean.  Those  are  all  expressions  my  father  used. 
They  stick  to  me  like  fly-paper." 

"I've  tried  and  tried  to  break  him  of  his  plebeian 
phrases,  but  I  cannot,"  Mrs.  Parker  said,  with  sad 
emphasis. 

"I  wouldn't  try,"  replied  Jennie.     "I  like  them." 

"  Thank  you,  lady,  thank  you,"  Parker  fervently 
made  answer. 

Curtis  hurried  away  to  look  at  the  saw-mill.  Law- 
son  and  Parker  went  fishing,  and  Elsie  got  out  her 
paint-box  and  started  another  sketch.  The  morn- 
ing was  glorious,  the  air  invigorating,  and  she  painted 
joyously  with  firm,  plashing  strokes.  Never  had  she 
been  so  sure  of  her  brush.  Life  and  art  were  very 

177 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

much  worth  while — only  now  and  then  a  disturbing 
wish  intruded — it  was  only  a  vague  and  timid  long- 
ing; but  it  grew  a  little  in  power  each  time.  Once 
she  looked  steadily  and  soberly  at  the  ring  whose 
jewel  sparkled  like  a  drop  of  dew  on  the  third  finger 
of  her  left  hand. 

A  half-hour  later  Curtis  came  back,  walking  rapid- 
ly. Seeing  her  at  work  he  deflected  from  the  straight 
trail  and  drew  near. 

"I  think  that  is  wonderful/'  he  said,  as  he  looked 
at  her  sketch.  "I  don't  see  how  you  do  so  much 
with  so  few  strokes." 

"That- always  puzzles  the  layman/'  she  replied. 
"But  it's  really  very  simple." 

"When  you  know  how.  I  hope  you're  enjoying 
your  trip  with  us?" 

She  flashed  a  smile  that  was  almost  coquettish 
upon  him.  "  It  is  glorious.  I  am  so  happy  I'm  afraid 
it  won't  last." 

"We  always  feel  that  way  about  any  keen  pleas- 
ure/' he  replied,  soberly.  "Now  I  can't  keep  the 
thought  of  your  going  out  of  my  mind.  Every  hour 
or  two  I  find  myself  saying,  '  It  '11  be  lonesome  busi- 
ness when  these  artists  leave  us. ' ' 

"You  mustn't  speak  of  anything  sorrowful  this 
week.  Let's  be  as  happy  as  we  can." 

He  pondered  a  fitting  reply,  but  at  last  gave  it  up 
and  said:  "If  you  are  satisfied  with  your  sketch, 
we'll  start.  I  see  the  teams  are  ready." 

"  Oh  yes,  I'm  ready  to  go.  I  just  wanted  to  make 
a  record  of  the  values — they  are  changing  so  fast 
now,"  and  she  began  to  wipe  her  brushes  and  put 
away  her  panel.  "I  don't  care  where  we  go  so  we 


A  FLUTE,  A   DRUM,  AND  A  MESSAGE 

keep  in  the  pines  and  have  the  mountains  somewhere 
in  sight" 

It  must  have  been  in  remorse  of  her  neglect  of  Law- 
son  the  preceding  day  that  Elsie  insisted  on  sitting  be- 
side him  in  the  back  seat,  while  Mrs.  Parker  took  her 
place  with  the  driver.  The  keen  pang  of  disappoint- 
ment which  crossed  his  heart  warned  Curtis  that  his 
loyalty  to  his  friend  was  in  danger  of  being  a  burden, 
and  the  drive  was  robbed  of  all  the  blithe  intercourse 
of  the  day  before.  Parker  and  Jennie  fought  clamor- 
ously on  a  variety  of  subjects  in  the  middle  distance, 
but  Curtis  was  hardly  more  than  courteous  to  Mrs. 
Parker — so  absorbed  was  he  in  some  inner  controversy. 

Retracing  their  course  to  the  valley  the  two  wagons 
crossed  the  stream  and  crawled  slowly  up  the  divide 
between  the  Elk  and  the  Willow,  and  at  one  o'clock 
came  down  upon  a  sparse  village  of  huts  and  tepees 
situated  on  the  bank  of  a  clear  little  stream — just 
where  it  fell  away  from  a  narrow  pond  which  was 
wedged  among  the  foot-hills  like  an  artificial  reser- 
voir. The  year  was  still  fresh  and  green  here,  and 
the  air  was  like  May. 

Dogs  were  barking  and  snarling  round  the  teams, 
as  a  couple  of  old  men  left  the  doors  of  their  tepees 
and  came  forward.  One  of  them  was  gray-haired, 
but  tall  and  broad-shouldered.  This  was  Many 
Coups,  a  famous  warrior  and  one  of  the  historians  of 
his  tribe.  He  greeted  the  agent  soberly,  expressing 
neither  fear  nor  love,  asking :  "  Who  are  these  with 
you?  I  have  not  seen  them  before." 

To  this  Curtis  replied :  "  They  are  my  friends.  They 
make  pictures  of  the  hills  and  the  lakes  and  of  chief- 
tains like  Many  Coups." 

179 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

Many  Coups  looked  keenly  at  Elsie.  "My  eyes 
are  old  and  poor,"  he  slowly  said.  "  But  now  I  re- 
member. This  young  woman  was  at  the  agency 
last  year/'  and  he  put  up  his  hand,  which  was  small 
and  graceful  even  yet — the  hand  of  an  artist.  "I 
make  pictures  also,"  he  said. 

When  this  was  translated,  Elsie  said :  "  You  shall 
make  a  picture  of  me  and  I  will  make  one  of  you." 

At  this  the  old  man  smilingly  answered :  "  It  shall 
be  so." 

"  Where  is  Red  Wolf?"  asked  Curtis. 

"He  is  away  with  Tailfeathers  to  keep  the  cow- 
boys from  our  land.  We  are  growing  afraid,  Little 
Father." 

"We  will  talk  more  of  that  by-and  by — we  must 
now  camp.  Call  your  people  together  and  at  mid- 
afternoon  we  will  council,"  replied  Curtis. 

Driving  a  little  above  the  village,  Curtis  found  a 
sheltered  spot  behind  some  low-growing  pines  and 
not  far  from  the  lake,  and  there  they  hastened  to 
camp.  The  news  flew  from  camp  to  camp  that  the 
Little  Father  was  come,  but  no  one  crowded  unsea- 
sonably to  look  at  him.  "We  will  council,"  Many 
Coups  announced,  and  began  to  array  himself  for  the 
ceremony.  Horsemen  galloped  away  to  call  Red 
Wolf  and  others  who  lived  down  the  valley.  Never 
before  had  an  agent  visited  them  in  their  homes,  and 
they  were  disposed  to  make  the  most  of  it. 

By  the  time  the  white  people  had  eaten  their  lunch 
all  the  red  women  were  in  their  best  dresses.  The 
pappooses  were  shining  with  the  scrubbing  they  had 
suffered  and  each  small  warrior  wore  a  cunning  buck- 
skin coat  elaborate  with  beads  and  quills.  A  semi- 

180 


A  FLUTE,  A  DRUM,  AND   A  MESSAGE 

circular  wall  of  canvas  was  being  erected  to  shield 
the  old  men  from  the  mountain  wind,  and  a  detail  of 
cooks  had  started  in  upon  the  task  of  preparing  the 
feast  which  would  end  the  council. 

Said  Curtis :  "  You  will  find  in  this  camp  the  Tetong 
comparatively  unchanged.  Red  Wolf's  band  is  the 
most  primitive  encampment  I  know."  A  few  min- 
utes later  he  added,  "Here  comes  Many  Coups  and 
his  son  in  official  garb." 

The  two  chieftains  greeted  their  visitors  as  if  they 
had  not  hitherto  been  seen — with  all  the  dignity  of 
ambassadors  to  a  foreign  court. 

"Please  treat  them  with  the  same  formality/' 
warned  Curtis.  "It  will  pay  you  for  the  glimpse  of 
the  old-time  ceremony." 

The  younger  man  was  unpainted,  save  for  some 
small  blue  figures  on  his  forehead.  On  his  head  he 
wore  a  wide  Mexican  hat  which  vastly  became  him. 
His  face  was  one  of  the  handsomest  and  most  typical 
of  his  race. 

"  This  young  man  is  the  son  of  Many  Coups,  and 
is  called  Blue  Fox,  or  'The  Southern  Traveller/  be- 
cause he  has  been  down  where  the  Mexicans  are. 
His  hat  he  got  there,  and  he  is  very  proud  of  it/'  ex- 
plained Curtis. 

Jennie  gave  each  of  them  a  cup  of  coffee  and  a 
biscuit,  of  which  they  partook  without  haste,  dis- 
cussing meanwhile  the  coming  council. 

"  We  did  not  know  you  were  coming  ;  some  of 
our  people  will  not  get  here  in  time,"  said  Many 
Coups. 

"  To-night,  after  the  council,  we  wish  to  dance/1 
laid  Blue  Fox,  meaning  it  as  a  request 

181 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"It  is  forbidden  in  Washington  to  dance  in  the 
old  way." 

"  We  have  heard  of  that,  but  we  will  dance  for  your 
wives.  They  will  be  glad  to  see  it." 

"  Very  well,  you  may  dance,  but  not  too  long.  No 
war-dance — only  the  visitors'  dance." 

"Ay,  we  understand,"  said  Many  Coups  as  he  rose 
and  drew  his  blanket  about  him.  "  In  one  hour  we 
will  come  to  council.  Red  Wolf  will  be  there,  and 
Hump  Shoulder  and  his  son.  It  may  be  others  will 
return  in  time." 

The  women  were  delighted  at  the  promise  of  both 
a  council  and  a  dance,  and  Lawson  unlimbered  his 
camera  in  order  to  take  some  views  of  both  functions, 
though  he  expressed  some  dissatisfaction. 

"The  noble  redman  is  thin  and  crooked  in  the 
legs,"  he  said  to  Curtis.  "  Why  is  this?" 

"  All  the  plains  Indians,  who  ride  the  horse  almost 
from  their  babyhood,  are  bow  -  legged.  They  never 
walk,  and  they  are  seldom  symmetrically  developed. " 

"They  are  significant,  but  not  beautiful,"  said 
Lawson. 

As  they  walked  about  the  camp  Elsie  exclaimed: 
"  This  is  the  way  all  redmen  should  live,"  and,  indeed, 
the  scene  was  very  beautiful.  They  were  far  above 
the  agency,  and  the  long  valleys  could  be  seen  de- 
scending like  folds  in  a  vast  robe  reaching  to  the 
plain.  The  ridges  were  dark  with  pines  for  a  space, 
but  grew  smooth  and  green  at  lower  levels,  and  at 
last  melted  into  haze.  The  camp  was  a  summer 
camp,  and  all  about,  in  pleasant  places  among  the 
pines,  stood  the  tepees,  swarming  with  happy  chil- 
dren and  puppies.  Under  low  lodges  of  canvas  or 

182 


A  FLUTE,   A  DRUM,  AND  A  MESSAGE 

bowers  of  pine  branches  the  women  were  at  work 
boiling  meat  or  cooking  a  rude  sort  of  cruller.  They 
were  very  shy,  and  mostly  hung  their  heads  as  their 
visitors  passed,  though  they  soon  yielded  to  Jennie, 
who  could  speak  a  few  words  to  them. 

"  There's  nothing  in  them  for  sculpture,"  said 
Parker,  critically.  "  At  least  not  for  beauty.  They 
might  be  treated  as  Raffaelle  paints — for  character." 

"They  grow  heavy  early,"  Jennie  added,  "but 
the  little  girls  are  beautiful — see  that  little  one!" 

The  crier,  a  tall  old  man,  toothless  and  wrinkled 
and  gray,  began  to  cry  in  a  hollow,  monotonous 
voice,  "Come  to  the  council  place,"  and  Curtis  led 
his  flock  to  their  places  in  the  midst  of  the  circle. 

The  council  began  with  all  the  old-time  forms,  with 
gravity  and  decorum.  Red  Wolf  was  in  the  centre, 
with  Many  Coups  at  his  left.  The  pipe  of  peace  went 
round,  and  those  whose  minds  were  not  yet  prepared 
for  speech  drew  deep  inspirations  of  the  fragrant 
smoke  in  the  hope  that  their  thoughts  might  be  clari- 
fied, and  when  thev  lifted  their  eyes  they  seemed  not 
to  perceive  their  visitors  or  those  who  passed  to  and 
fro  among  the  tepees.  The  sun,  westering,  fell  with 
untempered  light  on  their  heads,  but  they  faced  it 
with  the  calm  unconcern  of  eagles. 

To  please  his  guests,  Curtis  allowed  the  utmost 
formality,  and  did  not  hasten,  interrupt,  or  excise. 
The  speeches  were  translated  into  English  by  Law- 
son,  and  at  each  telling  point  or  period  in  Red 
Wolf's  speech  the  women  looked  at  each  other  in  sur- 
prise. 

"Did  he  really  say  that?"  asked  Elsie.  "Didn't 
you  make  it  up?" 

183 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"Rather  good  for  a  ragamuffin,  don't  you  think?" 
said  Lawson,  as  the  old  man  took  his  seat. 

Many  Coups  spoke  slowly,  sadly,  as  though  half 
communing  with  himself,  with  nothing  of  the  bom- 
bast the  visitors  had  expected,  and  he  grew  in  dig- 
nity and  power  as  his  thought  began  to  make  itself 
felt  through  his  interpreter. 

"He  is  speaking  for  his  race/'  remarked  Lawson 
to  Elsie. 

"By  Jove!  the  old  fellow  is  a  good  lawyerl  '  cried 
Parker.  "  I  don't  see  any  answer  to  his  indictment." 

Curtis  sat  listening  as  though  each  point  the  old 
man  made  were  new — and  this  attitude  pleased  the 
chieftains  very  much. 

The  speech,  in  its  general  tenor,  was  similar  to 
many  others  he  had  heard  from  thoughtful  redmen. 
Briefly  he  described  the  time  when  the  redmen  were 
happy  in  a  land  filled  with  deer  and  buffalo,  before 
the  white  man  was.  "  We  lived  as  the  Great  Spirit 
made  us.  Then  the  white  man  came — and  now  we 
are  bewildered  with  his  commands.  Our  eyes  are 
blinded,  we  know  not  where  to  go.  We  know  not 
whom  to  believe  or  trust.  I  am  old,  I  am  going  to 
my  grave  troubled  over  the  fate  of  my  children. 
Agents  come  and  go.  The  good  ones  go  too  soon 
—  the  bad  ones  stay  too  long,  but  they  all  go. 
There  is  no  one  in  whose  care  to  leave  my  chil- 
dren. It  is  better  to  die  here  in  the  hills  than  to 
live  the  slave  of  the  white  man,  ragged  and  spir- 
itless, slinking  about  like  a  dog  without  a  friend. 
We  do  not  want  to  make  war  any  more  —  we  ask 
only  to  live  as  our  fathers  lived,  and  die  here  in  the 
hills." 

184 


A  FLUTE,   A   DRUM,   AND    A  MESSAGE 

As  he  spoke  these  final  tragic  words  his  voice  grew 
deep  and  trembled,  and  Elsie  felt  some  strong  force 
gripping  at  her  throat,  and  burning  tears  filled  her 
eyes.  In  the  city  it  was  easy  to  say,  "The  way  of 
civilization  lies  over  the  graves  of  the  primitive  races/' 
but  here,  under  the  sun,  among  the  trees,  when  one 
of  those  about  to  die  looked  over  and  beyond  her  to 
the  hills  as  though  choosing  his  grave — the  utterance 
of  the  pitiless  phrase  was  difficult  in  any  tone — im- 
possible in  the  boasting  shout  of  the  white  promoter. 
She  rose  suddenly  and  walked  away — being  ashamed 
of  her  tears,  a  painful  constriction  in  her  throat. 

The  speakers  who  followed  spoke  in  much  the  same 
way — all  but  Blue  Fox,  who  sharply  insisted  that 
the  government  should  help  them.  "You  have  put 
us  here  on  barren  land  where  we  can  only  live  by 
raising  stock.  You  should  help  us  fence  the  reser- 
vation, and  get  us  cattle  to  start  with.  Then  by-and- 
by  we  can  build  good  houses  and  have  plenty  to  eat. 
This  is  right,  for  you  have  destroyed  our  game — 
and  you  will  not  let  us  go  to  the  mountains  to  hunt. 
You  must  do  something  besides  furnish  us  ploughs 
in  a  land  where  the  rain  does  not  come." 

In  answer  to  all  this,  Curtis  replied,  using  the  sign 
language.  He  admitted  that  Red  Wolf  was  right. 
"  The  Tetongs  have  been  cheated,  but  good  days  are 
coming.  I  am  going  to  help  you.  I  am  going  to 
stay  with  you  till  you  are  safely  on  the  white  man's 
road.  We  intend  to  buy  out  the  settlers,  and  take 
the  water  in  the  streams  so  that  you  may  raise  po- 
tatoes for  your  children,  and  you  will  then  be  glad 
because  your  gardens  will  bear  many  things  good 
to  eat.  Do  not  despair,  the  white  people  are  coming 

185 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

to  understand  the  situation  now.     You  have  many 
friends  who  will  help." 

As  Many  Coups  rose  and  shook  hands  with  the 
agent  he  was  smiling  again,  and  he  said,  "Your 
words  are  good." 

The  old  crier  went  forth  again  calling:  "Come  to 
the  dance-hall.  The  white  people  desire  to  see  you 
dance.  Come  clothed  in  your  best  garments." 

Then  the  drum  began  to  utter  its  spasmodic  sig- 
nal, and  the  herald's  voice  sounded  faint  and  far 
off  as  he  descended  the  path  to  the  second  group  of 
tepees. 

"  Shall  we  go  now?"  asked  Mrs.  Parker. 

"Oh  no,  it  will  be  two  hours  before  they  begin. 
The  young  men  must  go  and  dress.  We  have  time 
to  sup  and  smoke  a  pipe." 

"Oh!  I'm  so  glad  we're  going  to  see  a  real  Indian 
dance.  I  didn't  suppose  it  could  be  seen  now — not 
the  real  thing." 

Lawson  smiled.  "You'll  think  this  is  the  real 
thing  before  you  get  inside  the  door.  I've  known 
tender  feet  to  weaken  at  the  last  moment." 

Parker  pretended  to  be  a  little  nervous.  "Sup- 
pose they  should  get  hold  of  some  liquor." 

"This  band  is  too  far  away  from  the  white  man 
to  have  his  vices,"  replied  Curtis  with  a  slight  smile. 
He  had  wondered  at  Elsie's  going,  but  concluded 
she  had  grown  weary  of  the  old  chief's  speech. 

"There  is  great  charm  in  this  life,"  said  Lawson, 
as  they  all  gathered  before  their  tent  and  sat  over- 
looking the  village  and  the  lake.  "  I  sometimes  won- 
der whether  we  have  not  complicated  life  without 
adding  to  the  sum  of  human  happiness." 

186 


A  FLUTE,   A   DRUM,   AND  A   MESSAGE 

"  I'm  thinking  of  this  in  winter/'  said  Elsie.  "  O-o-o! 
It  must  be  terrible!  No  furnace,  no  bath-tubs/' 

The  others  laughed  heartily  at  the  sincerity  of  her 
shudder,  and  Curtis  said: 

"  Well,  now,  you'd  be  surprised  to  know  how  com- 
fortable they  keep  in  their  tepees.  In  the  old  skin 
tepee  they  were  quite  warm  even  on  the  coldest  days. 
They  always  camp  in  sheltered  places  out  of  the  wind, 
and  where  fuel  is  plenty." 

"At  the  same  time  I  prefer  my  own  way  of  living 
to  theirs — when  winter  comes. " 

"I  know  something  of  your  logic,"  replied  Curtis. 
"But  I  think  I  understand  the  reluctance  of  these 
people  when  asked  to  give  up  the  old  things.  I  love 
their  life — their  daily  actions — this  man  coiling  a 
lariat — that  child's  outline  against  the  tepee  —  the 
smell  of  their  fresh  bread — the  smoke  of  their  little 
fires.  I  can  understand  a  Tetong  when  he  says : '  All 
this  is  as  sweet  to  me  as  your  own  life — why  should 
I  give  it  up?'  Feeling  as  I  do,  I  never  insist  on  their 
giving  up  anything  which  is  not  an  impediment.  I 
argue  with  them,  and  show  that  some  of  their  ways 
are  evil  or  a  hinderance  in  the  struggle  for  life  un- 
der new  conditions,  and  they  always  meet  me  half- 
way." 

"  Supper  is  ready,"  called  Jennie,  and  his  audience 
•/ose. 

While  still  at  meat,  the  drum,  which  had  been  sound- 
ing at  intervals,  suddenly  took  on  a  wilder  energy, 
followed  immediately  by  a  high,  shrill,  yelping  call, 
which  was  instantly  augmented  by  a  half-dozen  others, 
all  as  savage  and  startling  as  the  sudden  burst  of 
howling  from  a  pack  of  wolves.  This  clamor  fell 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

away  into  a  deep,  throbbing  chant,  only  to  rise  again 
to  the  yelping,  whimpering  cries  with  which  it  began. 

Every  woman  stiffened  with  terror,  with  wide  eyes 
questioning  Curtis.  "  What  is  all  that?" 

"  The  opening  chorus/'  he  explained,  much  amused. 
"A  song  of  the  chase." 

The  dusk  was  beginning  to  fall,  and  the  tepees, 
with  their  small,  sparkling  fires  close  beside,  and  the 
shadowy,  blanketed  forms  assembling  slowly,  si- 
lently, gave  a  wonderful  remoteness  and  wildness  to 
the  scene.  To  Curtis  it  was  quite  like  the  old-time 
village.  The  husky  voice  of  the  aged  crier  seemed 
like  a  call  from  out  of-  the  years  primeval  before  the 
white  race  with  its  devastating  energy  and  its  killing 
problems  had  appeared  in  the  east.  The  artist  in 
Elsie,  now  iully  awake,  dominated  the  daughter  of 
wealth.  "Oh,  this  is  beautiful!  I  never  expected 
to  see  anything  so  primitive/' 

Knowing  that  his  guests  were  eager  to  view  it  all, 
Curtis  led  the  way  towards  the  dance-lodge.  Elsie 
was  moved  to  take  her  place  beside  him,  but  checked 
herself  and  turned  to  Lawson,  leaving  Mrs.  Parker 
to  walk  at  the  Captain's  elbow. 

To  the  ears  of  the  city  dwellers  the  uproar  was  ap- 
palling— full  of  murder  and  sudden  death.  As  they 
approached  the  lodge  the  frenzied  booming  of  the 
drum,  the  wild,  yelping  howls,  the  shrill  whooping, 
brought  up  in  their  minds  all  the  stories  of  dreadful 
deeds  they  had  ever  read,  and  Parker  said  to  Jennie : 

"Do  you  really  think  the  Captain  will  be  able  to 
control  them?" 

Jennie  laughed.  "I'm  used  to  this  clamor;  it's 
only  their  way  of  singing/' 

188 


A  FLUTE,  A   DRUM,   AND  A  MESSAGE 

Elsie  said:  "They  must  be  flourishing  bloody 
scalping-knives  in  there;  it  is  direful/' 

"  Wait  and  see/'  said  Lawson. 

The  dance-house  was  a  large  octagonal  hut  built 
of  pine  logs,  partly  roofed  with  grass  and  soil.  It 
was  lighted  by  a  leaping  fire  in  the  centre,  and  by  four 
lanterns  on  the  walls,  and  as  Curtis  and  his  party 
entered,  the  clamor  (in  their  honor)  redoubled.  In 
a  first  swift  glance  Elsie  apprehended  only  a  con- 
fused, jingling,  fluttering  mass  of  color — a  chaos  of 
leaping,  half-naked  forms  and  a  small  circle  of  singers 
fiercely  assaulting  a  drum  which  sat  on  the  floor  at 
the  right  of  the  door. 

Then  Red  Wolf,  calm,  stately,  courtly,  came  before 
them  carrying  his  wand  of  office  and  conducted  them 
to  seats  at  the  left  of  the  fire,  and  the  girl's  heart 
ceased  to  pound  so  fiercely.  Looking  back  she  saw 
Jennie  shaking  hands  with  one  of  the  fiercest  of  the 
painted  and  beplumed  dancers,  and  recognized  him 
as  Blue  Fox.  Turning,  she  fixed  her  eyes  on  a  mid- 
dle-aged man  who  was  dancing  as  sedately  as  Wash- 
ington might  have  led  the  minuet,  his  handsome 
face  calm  of  line  and  the  clip  of  his  lips  genial  and 
placid.  Plainly  the  ferocity  did  not  extend  to  the 
dancers;  the  singers  alone  seemed  to  express  hate 
and  lust  and  war. 

The  music  suddenly  ceased,  and  in  an  instant  the 
girl's  mind  cleared.  She  perceived  that  the  singers 
were  laughing  as  they  rolled  their  cigarettes,  and 
that  the  savage  warrior  dancers  were  gossiping  to- 
gether as  they  rested,  while  all  about  her  sat  plump 
young  girls  in  gay  dresses,  very  conscious  of  the  eyes 
of  the  young  men.  In  her  early  life  Elsie  had  at- 

189 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

tended  a  country  dance,  and  her  changed  impressions 
of  this  mad,  blood-thirsty  revel  was  indicated  in  her 
tone  as  she  said : 

"Why,  it's  just  an  old-fashioned  country  hoe- 
down/' 

Curtis  laughed.  "I  congratulate  you  on  your 
penetration/'  he  mockingly  said. 

The  old  men  came  up  to  shake  hands  with  the 
agent,  and  on  being  presented  to  Elsie  smiled  reassur- 
ingly. Their  manners  were  very  good,  indeed.  Sev- 
eral of  them  gravely  made  a  swift  sign  which  caused 
Curtis  to  color  and  look  confused,  and  when  his  an- 
swering vsign  caused  them  all  to  look  at  Lawson, 
Elsie  demanded  to  know  what  it  was  all  about. 

"  Do  you  think  you'd  better  know?"  he  asked. 

"  Certainly,  I  insist  on  knowing, "  she  added,  as  he 
hesitated  again. 

He  looked  at  her,  but  a  little  unsteadily.  "They 
asked  if  you  were  my  bride,  and  I  replied  no,  that  you 
came  with  Lawson." 

It  was  her  turn  to  look  confused.  "  The  impudent 
things!"  was  all  she  could  find  to  say  at  the  moment. 

Red  Wolf  called  out  a  few  imperative  words,  the 
song  began  with  its  imitation  of  the  wolves  at  war 
as  before,  then  settled  into  a  pounding  chant — deep, 
resonant,  and  inspiriting.  The  dancers  sprang  forth — 
not  all,  but  a  part  of  them — as  though  their  names 
had  been  called,  while  a  curious  little  bent  and  with- 
ered old  man  crept  in  like  a  gnome  and  built  up  the 
fire  till  it  blazed  brightly.  As  they  danced  the  younger 
men  re-enacted  with  abrupt,  swift,  violent,  yet  grace- 
ful gestures  the  drama  of  wild  life.  They  trailed 
game,  rescued  lost  warriors,  and  defeated  enemies. 

190 


A  FLUTE,   A   DRUM,  AND  A   MESSAGE) 

"You  see  it  proceeds  with  decorum/'  said  Curtis 
to  Elsie  and  Mrs.  Parker,  as  the  dancers  returned  to 
their  seats.  "They  enjoy  it  just  as  white  people  en- 
joy a  cotillion,  and,  barring  the  noise  of  the  singers, 
it  is  quite  as  formal  and  harmless/' 

A  little  boy  in  full  dancing  costume  now  came  on 
with  the  rest,  and  the  visitors  exclaimed  in  delight  of 
his  grace  and  dignity.  He  could  not  have  been  more 
than  six  years  of  age.  His  companion,  an  old  man 
of  seventy,  was  a  good  deal  of  a  wag,  and  danced  in 
comic- wise  to  make  the  on-lookers  laugh. 

Parker  was  fairly  hooking  his  chin  over  Curtis 's 
shoulder  to  hear  every  word  uttered  and  to  see  all 
that  went  on,  and  Curtis  was  in  the  midst  of  an  ex- 
planation of  the  significance  of  the  drama  of  the 
dance,  when  a  short,  sturdy,  bow-legged-  Tetong, 
dressed  in  a  policeman's  uniform,  pushed  his  way  in 
at  the  door  and  thrust  a  letter  at  his  agent's  hand. 

Instantly  every  eye  was  fixed  on  Curtis's  bent  head 
as  he  opened  the  letter.  The  dancers  took  their  seats, 
whispering  and  muttering,  the  drum  ceased,  and  the 
singers,  turned  into  bronze  figures,  stared,  solemnly. 
A  nervous  chill  ran  though  Elsie's  blood  and  Parker 
turned  pale  and  cold. 

"What's  up— what's  up?"  he  asked,  hurriedly. 
"This  is  a  creepy  pause." 

Lawson  laid  a  hand  on  his  arm  and  shut  down  on 
it  like  a  vice. 

Red  Wolf  brought  a  lantern  and  held  it  at  the  Cap- 
tain's shoulder. 

Jennie,  leaning  over,  caught  the  words,  "  There's 
been  a  row  over  on  the  Willow — " 

Curtis  calmly  folded  the  paper,  nodded  and  smiled 
191 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

his  thanks  to  Red  Wolf,  and  then  lifting  his  hand 
he  signed  to  the  policeman,  in  full  view  of  all  the 
dancers : 

"Go  back  and  tell  Wilson  to  issue  just  the  same 
amount  of  flour  this  week  that  he  did  last,  and  that 
Red  Wolf  wants  a  new  mowing-machine  for  his  peo- 
ple. You  need  not  return  till  morning/'  Then, 
turning  to  Red  Wolf,  he  said :  "  Go  on  with  the  dance ; 
my  friends  are  much  pleased/' 

The  tension  instantly  gave  way,  r,very  one  being 
deceived  but  Jennie,  who  understood  the  situation 
and  tried  to  help  on  the  deception,  but  her  round  face 
was  plainly  anxious. 

Elsie,  as  she  ceased  to  wonder  concerning  the  forms 
and  regulations  of  the  dance,  grew  absorbed  in  the 
swirling  forms,  the  harsh  clashing  of  colors,  the 
short,  shrill  cries,  the  gleam  of  round  and  polished 
limbs,  the  haughty  fling  of  tall  head-dresses,  and 
the  lightness  of  the  small  and  beautifully  modelled 
feet  drumming  upon  the  ground;  but  most  of  all  she 
was  moved  by  the  aloofness  of  expression  on  the  faces 
of  many  of  the  dancers.  For  the  most  part  they  seem- 
ed to  dream — 'to  revisit  the  past — especially  the  old 
men.  Their  lips  were  sad,  their  eyes  pensive — sin- 
gularly so — and  mentally  the  girl  said:  "I  must 
paint  my  next  portrait  of  this  quality — an  old  man 
dreaming  of  the  olden  time.  I  wonder  if  they  really 
were  happy  in  those  days — happier  than  our  civili- 
zation can  make  them?"  and  thoughts  came  to  her 
which  shook  her  confidence  in  the  city  and  the  mart. 
For  the  first  time  in  her  life  she  doubted  the  sanctity 
of  the  steam-engine  and  the  ore-crusher. 

As  they  took  their  seats  from  time  to  time  the  older 
192 


A   FLUTE,   A  DRUM,   AND  A   MESSAGE! 

men  smoked  their  long  pipes;  only  the  young  men 
rolled  their  cigarettes.  To  them  the  past  was  a  child's 
recollection,  not  the  irrevocable  dream  of  age.  They 
were  the  links  between  the  old  and  the  new. 

As  the  time  came  to  go,  Curtis  rose  and  addressed 
his  people  in  signs.  "  We  are  glad  to  be  here,"  he 
said.  "All  my  friends  are  pleased.  My  heart  is 
joyous  when  you  dance.  I  do  not  forbid  it.  Some- 
times Washington  tells  me  to  do  something,  and  I 
must  obey.  They  say  you  must  not  dance  the  war- 
dance  any  more,  and  so  I  must  forbid  it.  This  dance 
was  pleasant  —  it  is  not  bad.  My  heart  is  made 
warm  to  be  with  you.  I  am  visiting  all  my  people, 
and  I  must  go  to-morrow.  Do  not  quarrel  with  the 
white  man.  Be  patient,  and  Washington  will  do  you 
good/' 

Each  promise  was  greeted  by  the  old  men  with 
cries  of:  "Ay!  Ay!"  and  the  drummers  thumped 
the  drums  most  furiously  in  applause.  And  so  the 
agent  said,  "  Good-night/'  and  withdrew. 


XVIII 

ELSIE'S  ANCIENT  LOVE  AFFAIR 

A 5  they  walked  back  to  their  camp  Jennie  took 
her  brother's  arm : 

"What  is  it,  George?" 

"  I  must  return  to  the  agency." 

"  That  means  we  must  all  go?" 

"I  suppose  so.  The  settlers  seemed  determined 
to  make  trouble.  They  have  had  another  row  with 
Gray  Man's  band,  and  shots  have  been  fired.  Fortu- 
nately no  one  was  hurt.  We  must  leave  here  early. 
Say  nothing  to  any  of  our  guests  till  we  are  safely 
on  the  way  home." 

Elsie,  walking  with  Lawson,  was  very  pensive.  "  I 
begin  to  understand  why  Captain  Curtis  is  made 
Indian  agent.  He  understands  these  people,  sym- 
pathizes with  them." 

"No  one  better,  and  if  the  department  can  retain 
him  six  years  he  will  have  the  Tetongs  comfortably 
housed  and  on  the  road  to  independence  and  self- 
respect." 

"Why  shouldn't  he  be  retained?" 

"Well,  your  father  may  secure  re-election  to  the 
Senate  next  winter." 

"I  know,"  she  softly  answered,  "he  dislikes  Cap- 
tain Curtis." 

194 


ELSIE'S   ANCIENT  LOVE  AFFAIR 

"  More  than  that — in  order  to  be  elected,  he  must 
pledge  himself  to  have  Curtis  put  out  o'  the  way." 

"That  sounds  like  murder/'  she  said. 

"Oh  no;  it's  only  politics — politics  and  business. 
But  let's  not  talk  of  that — let  us  absorb  the  beauty 
of  the  night.  Did  you  enjoy  the  dance?" 

"Very  much.  I  am  hopeless  of  ever  painting  it 
though — it  is  so  full  of  big,  significant  shadows.  I 
wish  I  knew  more  about  it." 

"You  are  less  confident  than  you  were  last  year." 
He  looked  at  her  slyly. 

"  I  see  more. ' ' 

"And  feel  more?"  he  asked. 

"Yes — I'm  afraid  I'm  getting  Captain  Curtis's 
point  of  view.  These  people  aren't  the  mendicants 
they  once  seemed.  The  expression  of  some  of  those 
faces  to-night  was  wonderful.  They  are  some- 
thing more  than  tramps  when  they  discard  their 
rags." 

"  I  wish  you'd  come  to  my  point  of  view,"  he  said, 
a  little  irrelevantly. 

"About  what?" 

"About  our  momentous  day.  Suppose  we  say 
Wednesday  of  Thanksgiving  week?" 

"  I  thought  you  were  going  to  wait  for  me  to  speak," 
she  replied. 

He  caught  his  breath  a  little.  "  So  I  will — only  you 
won't  forget  my  gray  hairs,  will  you?" 

"I  don't  think  I  will — not  with  your  broad  daily 
hints  to  remind  me.  But  you  promised  to  be  patient 
and — just  friendly." 

He  ignored  her  sarcasm.  "It  would  be  rather 
curious  if  I  should  become  increasingly  impatient. 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

wouldn't  it?  I  made  that  promise  in  entire  good 
faith,  but — I  seem  to  be  changing." 

" That's  what  troubles  me/'  she  said.  "You  are 
trying  to  hurry  me." 

At  this  moment  they  carne  close  to  the  Parkers  and 
she  did  not  continue.  He  had  given  her  another  dis- 
turbing thought  to  sleep  on,  and  that  was,  "  Would 
it  hurt  him  much  if  I  should  now  return  his  ring?" 

Mrs.  Parker  was  disposed  to  discuss  the  dance, 
but  Jennie  said: 

"We  must  all  go  to  sleep.  George  says  we  are  to 
move  early  to-morrow." 

The  walls  of  the  tent  could  hardly  be  seen  when 
the  sound  of  the  crackling  flames  again  told  that 
faithful  Two  Horns  was  feeding  the  camp-fire.  Crane's 
Voice  could  be  heard  bringing  in  the  horses,  and  in 
a  few  moments  Curtis  called  out  in  a  low,  incisive 
voice : 

"Everybody  turn  out;  we  must  make  an  early 
start  across  the  range." 

The  morning  was  gray,  the  peaks  hidden  in  clouds, 
and  the  wind  chill  as  the  women  came  from  their  beds. 
Two  Horns  had  stretched  some  blankets  to  keep  off 
the  blast,  but  still  Elsie  shivered,  and  Curtis  roundly 
apologized.  "I'm  sorry  to  get  you  up  so  early.  It 
spoils  all  the  fun  of  camping  if  you're  obliged  to  rise 
before  the  sun.  An  hour  from  now  and  all  will  be 
genial.  Please  wait  for  my  explanation." 

Breakfast  was  eaten  in  discomfort  and  compara- 
tive silence,  though  Parker,  with  intent  to  enliven 
the  scene,  cut  a  few  capers  as  awkward  as  the  antics 
of  a  sand-hill  crane.  Almost  before  the  smoke  of  the 

196 


ELSIE'S  ANCIENT  LOVE   AFFAIR 

tepee  fires  began  to  climb  the  trees  the  agent  and 
his  party  started  back  over  the  divide  towards  the 
mill,  no  one  in  holiday  mood.  There  was  a  certain 
pathos  in  this  loss  of  good  cheer. 

Once  out  of  sight  of  the  camp,  Curtis  turned  and 
said :  "  Friends,  I'm  sorry  to  announce  it,  but  I  must 
return  to  the  agency  to-night  and  I  must  take  you  all 
with  me.  Wilson  has  asked  me  to  hasten  home,  and 
of  course  he  would  not  do  so  without  good  reason." 

"  What  is  the  matter?"  asked  Elsie. 

"  The  same  old  trouble.  The  cattlemen  are  throw- 
ing their  stock  on  the  reservation  and  the  Tetongs 
are  resenting  it." 

"No  danger,  I  hope/'  said  Parker,  pop-eyed  this 
time  with  genuine  apprehension. 

"Oh  no  —  not  if  I  am  on  hand  to  keep  the  races 
apart.  Now  Fm  going  to  drive  hard,  and  you  must 
all  hang  on.  I  want  to  pull  into  the  agency  before 
dark." 

The  wagon  lurched  and  rattled  down  the  divide  as 
Curtis  urged  the  horses  steadily  forward.  With  his 
foot  in  the  brake,  he  descended  in  a  single  hour  the 
road  which  had  consumed  three  long  hours  to  climb. 
Conversation  under  these  conditions  was  difficult 
and  at  times  impossible. 

Jennie,  intrepid  driver  herself,  clutched  her  brother *s 
arm  at  times,  as  the  vehicle  lurched,  but  Curtis  made 
it  all  a  joke  by  shouting,  "  It  is  always  easy  to  slide 
into  Hades — the  worst  is  soon  over." 

Once  in  the  valley  of  the  Elk  the  road  grew  better, 
and  Curtis  asked  Elsie  if  she  wished  to  drive.  She, 
being  very  self-conscious  for  some  reason,  shook  her 
head,  "No,  thank  you,"  and  rode  for  the  most  part 

197 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

in  silence,  though  Lawson  made  a  brave  effort  to 
keep  up  a  conversation. 

By  eleven  o'clock  not  even  Curtis  and  Lawson  to- 
gether could  make  the  ride  a  joke.  The  women  were 
hungry  and  tired,  and  distinctly  saddened  by  this 
sudden  ending  of  their  joyous  outing. 

"I  wish  these  rampant  cowboys  could  have  waited 
till  we  had  our  holiday/'  Jennie  grumbled,  as  she 
stretched  her  tired  arms. 

"Probably  they  were  informed  of  the  Captain's 
plans  and  seized  the  opportunity,"  suggested  Parker. 

"I  wonder  if  Cal  is  a  traitor?"  mused  Jennie. 

Two  Horns  and  Crane's  Voice  came  rattling  along 
soon  after  Curtis  stopped  for  noon  at  their  first  camp- 
ing-place, and  in  a  few  minutes  lunch  was  ready. 
Conversation  still  lagged  in  spite  of  inspiriting  coffee, 
and  the  women  lay  out  on  their  rugs  and  blankets, 
resting  their  aching  bones,  while  the  men  smoked 
and  speculated  on  the  outcome  of  the  whole  Indian 
question. 

The  teams  were  put  to  the  wagons  as  soon  as  their 
oats  were  eaten  and  the  homeward  drive  begun,  brisk 
and  business-like,  and  for  some  mysterious  reason 
Curtis  recovered  his  usual  cheerful  tone. 

It  was  mid-afternoon  when  the  agency  was  sighted, 
and  the  five-o'clock  bell  had  just  rung  as  they  drove 
slowly  and  with  no  appearance  of  haste  into  the  yard. 

Wilson  came  out  to  meet  them.  "  How-de-do?  You 
made  a  short  trip." 

"  How  are  things?"  inquired  Curtis. 

"Nothing  doing — all  quiet/'  replied  the  clerk,  but 
Curtis  detected  something  yet  untold  in  the  quiver  of 
his  clerk's  eyelid. 

198 


ELSIE'S  ANCIENT  LOVE  AFFAIR 

"  Well,  I'm  glad  we  got  in." 

Supper  was  eaten  with  little  ceremony  and  very 
languid  conversation,  and  the  artists  at  once  sought 
their  rooms  to  rest.  The  Parkers  were  too  tired  to  be 
nervous,  and  Curtis  was  absorbed  with  some  private 
problem. 

As  Lawson  and  Elsie  walked  across  the  square  in 
the  twilight  he  announced,  meditatively :  , 

"I'm  going  to  be  more  and  more  impatient — that 
is  now  certain/' 

"Osborne,  don't!  Please  don't  take  that  tone;  I 
don't  like  it." 

"Why  not,  dear?"  he  asked,  tenderly. 

"Because  —  because — "  She  turned  in  a  swift, 
overmastering  impulse.  "  Because  if  you  do,  I  must 
give  you  back  your  ring."  She  wrung  it  from  her 
finger.  "I  think  I  must,  anyhow." 

As  she  crowded  the  gem  into  his  lax  hand  he  said : 
"Why,  what  does  this  mean,  Elsie  Bee  Bee?"  His 
voice  expressed  pain  and  bewilderment. 

"I  don't  know  what  it  means  yet,  only  I  feel  that 
it  isn't  right  now  to  wear  it.  I  told  you  when  you 
put  it  on  that  it  implied  no  promise  on  my  part." 

"I  know  it,  and  it  doesn't  imply  any  now." 

"Yes,  it  does.  Your  whole  attitude  towards  me 
implies  an  absolute  engagement,  and  I  can't  rest 
under  that.  Take  back  your  ring  till  I  can  receive 
it  as  other  girls  do — as  a  binding  promise.  You 
must  do  this  or  I  will  hate  youl"  she  added,  with  a 
sudden  fury. 

"Why,  certainly,  dearest — only  I  don't  see  what 
has  produced  this  change  in  you." 

"I  have  not  changed — you  have  changed/' 
199 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

He  laughed  at  this.  "The  woman's  last  word! 
Well,  I  admit  it.  I  have  come  to  love  you  as  a  man 
loves  the  woman  he  wishes  to  make  his  wife.  I'm 
going  to  care  a  great  deal,  Elsie  Bee  Bee,  if  you  do 
not  come  to  me  some  time." 

"Don't  say  that! "  she  cried,  and  there  was  an  im- 
ploring accent  in  her  voice.  "Don't  you  see  I  must 
not  wear  your  ring  till  I  promise  all  you  ask?" 

They  walked  on  in  silence  to  the  door.  As  they 
stood  there  he  said :  "  I  feel  as  though  I  were  about 
to  say  good-bye  to  you  forever,  and  it  makes  my 
heart  ache." 

She  put  both  hands  on  his  shoulders,  then,  swift 
as  a  bird,  turned  and  was  gone.  He  felt  that  she 
had  thought  to  kiss  him,  but  he  divined  it  would  have 
been  a  farewell  kiss,  and  he  was  glad  that  she  had 
turned  away.  There  was  still  hope  for  him  in  that 
indecision. 

As  for  Elsie,  life  seemed  suddenly  less  simple  and 
less  orderly.  She  pitied  Osborne,  she  was  angry  and 
dissatisfied  with  herself,  and  in  doubt  about  Curtis. 
"I'm  not  in  love  with  him — it  is  impossible,  absurd; 
but  my  summer  is  spoiled.  I  shall  go  home  at  once. 
It  is  foolish  for  me  to  be  here  when  I  could  be  at  the 
seashore." 

After  a  moment  she  thought:  "Why am  I  here?  I 
guess  the  girls  were  right.  I  am  a  crank — an  irre- 
sponsible. Why  should  I  want  to  paint  these  mal- 
odorous tepee  dwellers?  Just  to  be  different  from 
any  one  else." 

As  she  sat  at  her  open  window  she  heard  again 
the  Tetong  lover's  flute  wailing  from  the  hill-side 
across  the  stream,  and  the  sound  struck  straight  in 

200 


ELSIE'S  ANCIENT   LOVE   AFFAIR 

upon  her  heart  and  filled  her  with  a  mysterious  long- 
ing— a  pain  which  she  dared  not  analyze.  Her  mind 
was  active  to  the  point  of  confusion — seething  with 
doubts  and  the  wreckage  of  her  opinions.  Lawson's 
action  had  deeply  disturbed  her. 

They  had  never  pretended  to  sentiment  in  their 
relationship ;  indeed,  she  had  settled  into  a  conviction 
that  love  was  a  silly  passion,  possible  only  to  girls 
in  their  teens.  This  belief  she  had  attained  by  pass- 
ing through  what  seemed  to  her  a  fiery  furnace  of 
suffering  at  eighteen,  and  when  that  self-effacing 
passion  had  burned  itself  out  she  had  renounced  love 
and  marriage  and  "devoted  herself  to  art/'  healing 
herself  with  work.  For  some  years  thereafter  she 
posed  as  a  man-hater. 

The  objective  cause  of  all  this  tumult  and  flame 
and  renunciation  seemed  ridiculously  inadequate  in 
the  eyes  of  others.  He  was  the  private  secretary 
of  Senator  Stollwaert  at  the  time,  a  smug,  discreet, 
pretty  man,  of  slender  attainment  and  no  great  am- 
bition. Happily,  he  had  afterwards  removed  to  New 
York,  or  Washington  would  have  been  an  impossible 
place  of  residence  for  Elsie.  She  had  met  him  once 
since  her  return — he  had  had  the  courage  to  call  upon 
her — and  the  familiar  pose  of  his  small  head  and  the 
mincing  stride  of  his  slender  legs  had  given  her  a 
feeling  of  nausea.  "  Is  it  possible  that  I  once  agonized 
over  this  trig  little  man?"  she  asked  herself. 

To  be  just  to  him,  Mr.  Garretson  did  not  presume 
in  the  least  on  his  previous  intimacy;  on  the  con- 
trary, he  seemed  timid  and  ill  at  ease  in  the  presence 
of  the  woman  whose  beauty  had  by  no  means  been 
foreshadowed  in  her  girlhood.  He  was  not  stupid; 

201 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

the  splendor  of  her  surroundings  awed  him,  but  above 
all  else  there  was  a  look  on  her  face  which  too  plainly 
expressed  contempt  for  her  ancient  folly.  Her  shame 
was  as  perceptible  to  him  as  though  expressed  in 
spoken  words,  and  his  visit  was  never  repeated. 

Of  this  affair  Elsie  had  spoken  quite  freely  to  Law- 
son.  "It  only  shows  what  an  unmitigated  idiot  a 
girl  is.  She  is  bound  to  love  some  one.  I  knew 
quantities  of  nice  boys,  and  why  I  should  have  select- 
ed poor  Sammy  as  the  centre  of  all  my  hopes  and  af- 
fections I  don't  know.  I  dimly  recall  thinking  he 
had  nice  ears  and  hands,  but  even  they  do  not  now 
seem  a  reasonable  basis  for  wild  passion,  do  they?" 

Lawson  had  been  amused.  "Love  at  that  age 
isn't  a  creature  of  reason." 

"Evidently  not,  if  mine  was  a  sample." 

"Ours  now  is  so  reasonable  as  to  seem  insecure 
and  dangerous." 

Her  intimacy  with  Lawson,  therefore,  had  begun 
on  the  plane  of  good-fellowship  while  they  were  in 
Paris  together,  and  for  two  years  he  seemed  quite 
satisfied.  Of  late  he  had  been  less  contained. 

After  her  outburst  of  anger  at  her  father's  eject- 
ment of  Curtis,  she  met  Lawson  with  a  certain  re- 
serve not  common  to  her.  At  the  moment,  she  more 
than  half  resolved  that  the  time  had  come  to  leave 
her  father's  house  for  Lawson's  flat,  and  yet  her  will 
wavered.  She  said  as  little  as  possible  to  him  con- 
cerning that  last  disgraceful  scene,  as  much  on  her 
own  account  as  to  spare  Curtis,  but  her  restlessness 
was  apparent  to  Lawson  and  puzzled  him.  Two 
or  three  times  during  the  summer  he  had  openly, 
though  jocularly,  alluded  to  their  marriage,  but  she 

202 


ELSIE'S  ANCIENT  LOVE    AFFAIR 

had  put  him  off  with  a  keen  word.  Now  that  her 
father  seemed  intolerable,  she  listened  to  him  with  a 
new  interest.  He  became  a  definite  possibility — a 
refuge. 

Encouraged  by  this  slight  change  in  her  attitude 
towards  him,  Lawson  took  a  ring  from  his  pocket 
one  night  and  said,  "I  wish  you'd  wear  this,  Elsie 
Bee  Bee." 

She  drew  back.  "I  can't  do  that  I'm  not  ready 
to  promise  anything  yet." 

"It  needn't  bind  you,"  he  pleaded.  "It  needn't 
mean  any  more  than  you  care  to  have  it  mean.  But 
I  think  our  understanding  justifies  a  ring." 

"  That's  just  it/'  she  answered,  quickly.  "  I  don't 
like  you  to  be  so  solemn  about  our  '  understanding. ' 
You  promised  to  let  me  think  it  all  out  in  my  own 
way  and  in  my  own  time." 

"  I  know  I  did — and  I  mean  to  do  so.  Only" — he 
smiled  with  a  wistful  look  at  her — "  I  would  have  you 
observe  that  I  have  developed  three  gray  hairs  over 
my  ears." 

She  took  the  ring  slowly,  and  as  she  put  the  tip  of 
her  finger  into  it  a  slight  premonitory  shudder  passed 
over  her. 

"  You  are  sure  you  understand — this  is  no  binding 
promise  on  my  part?" 

"  It  will  leave  you  as  free  as  before." 

"Then  I  will  wear  it,"  she  said,  and  slipped  it  to 
its  place.  "  It  is  a  beautiful  ring." 

He  bent  and  kissed  her  fingers.  "  And  a  beautiful 
hand,  Elsie  Bee  Bee." 

Now,  lying  alone  in  the  soundless  deep  of  the  night, 
she  went  over  that  scene,  and  the  one  through  which 

203 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

she  had  just  passed.  "  He's  a  dear,  good  fellow,  and 
I  love  him — but  not  like  that."  And  the  thought 
that  it  was  all  over  between  them,  and  the  decision 
irrevocably  made,  was  at  once  a  pain  and  a  pleasure. 
The  promise,  slight  as  it  was,  had  been  a  burden. 
"Now  I  am  absolutely  free/'  she  said,  in  swift,  ex- 
ultant rebound. 


XIX 

THE  SHERIFF'S  MOB 

THE  next  day  was  cloudless,  with  a  south  wind, 
and  the  little,  crawling  brook  which  watered 
the  agency  seemed  about  to  seethe.  The  lower  foot- 
hills were  already  sere  as  autumn,  and  the  ponies 
came  down  to  their  drinking  -  places  unnaturally 
thirsty;  and  the  cattle,  wallowing  in  the  creek-bed, 
seemed  at  times  to  almost  stop  its  flow.  The  timid 
trees  which  Curtis  had  planted  around  the  school- 
house  and  office  were  plainly  suffering  for  lack  of 
moisture,  and  the  little  gardens  which  the  Indians 
had  once  more  been  induced  to  plant  were  in  sore 
distress. 

The  torrid  sun  beat  down  into  the  valley  from  the 
unclouded  sky  so  fiercely  that  the  idle  young  men 
of  the  reservation  postponed  their  horse-racing  till 
after  sunset.  Curtis  felt  the  heat  and  dust  very  keen- 
ly on  his  guests'  account,  and  was  irritated  over  the 
assaults  of  the  cattlemen.  "If  they  had  but  kept 
the  peace  we  would  still  be  in  the  cool,  sweet  hills/' 
he  said  to  Lawson. 

"This  will  not  last,"  Lawson  replied.  "We'll 
get  a  mountain  wind  to-night.  The  girls  are  wisely 
keeping  within  doors  and  are  not  yet  aware  of  the 
extreme  heat." 

205 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"I  hope  you  are  a  true  prophet.  But  at  this  mo- 
ment it  seems  as  if  no  cool  wind  could  arise  out  of  this 
sun-baked  land/' 

"Any  news  from  the  Willow?" 

"The  trouble  was  in  the  West  Fort.  Some  cow- 
boys raided  a  camp  of  Tetongs.  No  one  was  in- 
jured, and  so  it  must  pass  for  a  joke." 

"  Some  of  those  jokes  will  set  something  afire  some 
of  these  hot  days." 

"But  you  know  how  hard  it  is  to  apprehend  the 
ruffians;  they  come  and  go  in  the  night  like  wolves. 
They  spoiled  our  outing,  but  I  hope  we  may  get  away 
again  next  week." 

In  the  days  which  followed,  Curtis  saw  little  of 
Elsie,  and  when  they  met  she  seemed  cold  and  pre- 
occupied. In  conversation  she  seemed  listening  to 
another  voice,  appeared  to  be  pondering  some  ab- 
stract subject,  and  Curtis  was  puzzled  and  vaguely 
saddened.  Jennie  took  a  far  less  serious  view  of  the 
estrangement.  "It's  just  a  mood.  We've  set  her 
thinking;  she's  'under  conviction/  as  the  revival- 
ists used  to  say.  Don't  bother  her  and  she'll  'come 
through/' 

Curtis  was  at  lunch  on  Wednesday  when  Wilson 
came  to  the  door  and  said,  "Major,  Streeter  and  a 
man  named  Jenks  are  here  and  want  to  see  you." 

"  More  stolen  cattle  to  be  charged  up  to  the  Indians, 
I  suppose." 

"I  reckon  some  such  complaint — they  didn't  say." 

"  Well,  tell  them  to  wait — or  no — ask  them  to  come 
over  and  lunch  with  me." 

Wilson  soon  returned.  "They  are  very  glum, 
and  say  they'll  wait  at  the  office  till  you  come." 

206 


THE  SHERIFF'S  MOB 

"As  they  prefer.  I  will  have  finished  in  a  few 
moments/' 

He  concluded  not  to  hasten,  however,  and  the  ranch- 
ers had  plenty  of  time  to  become  impatient.  They 
met  him  darkly. 

"  We  want  a  word  in  private,  Major/'  said  Jenks, 
a  tall,  long-bearded  man  of  most  portentous  gravity. 

Curtis  led  the  way  to  an  inner  office  and  offered 
them  seats,  which  they  took  in  the  same  oppressive 
silence. 

The  agent  briskly  opened  the  hearing.  "What 
can  I  do  for  you,  gentlemen?" 

Jenks  looked  at  Streeter — Streeter  nodded.  "Go 
ahead,  Hank." 

Jenks  leaned  over  aggressively.  "Your  damned 
Injuns  have  murdered  one  o'  my  herders." 

Curtis  hardened.  "What  makes  you  think  so?" 
he  sharply  asked. 

"He  disappeared  more  than  a  week  ago,  and  no 
one  has  heard  of  him  since.  I  know  he  has  been 
killed,  and  your  Injuns  done  it.  No  one — 

"Wait  a  moment,"  interrupted  Curtis.  "Who 
was  he?" 

"  His  name  is  Cole — he  was  herdin'  my  sheep." 

"  Are  you  a  sheep-man?" 

"lam." 

"Where  do  you  live?" 

"My  sheep  ranch  is  over  on  Horned  Toad  Creek." 

"  Where  was  this  man  when  he  disappeared?" 

Jenks  grew  a  little  uneasy.  "  He  was  camped  by 
the  Mud  Spring." 

Curtis  rose  and  called  Wilson  in.  "  Wilson,  where 
is  the  Mud  Spring?" 

207 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"  Just  inside  our  south  line,  about  four  miles  from 
the  school/' 

"I  thought  so/'  replied  Curtis.  "Your  sheep 
were  on  the  reservation.  Are  you  sure  this  man  was 
murdered?" 

''Him  and  the  dog  disappeared  together,  and 
hain't  neither  of  'em  been  seen  since." 

"How  long  ago  was  this?" 

"Just  a  week  to-morrow." 

"Have  you  made  a  search  for  him?  Have  you 
studied  the  ground  closely?" 

Streeter  interposed.  "We've  done  all  that  could 
be  done  in  that  line.  I  know  he's  killed.  He  told  Cal 
about  two  weeks  ago  that  he  had  been  shot  at  twice 
and  expected  to  get  wiped  out  before  the  summer 
was  over.  There  isn't  a  particle  of  doubt  in  my  mind 
about  it.  The  thing  for  you  to  do  is  to  make  a  de- 
mand— " 

"I  am  not  in  need  of  instructions  as  to  my  duty/' 
interrupted  Curtis.  "Wilson,  who  is  over  from  the 
Willow  Creek?" 

"Old  Elk  himself." 

"Send  him  in.  I  shall  take  all  means  to  help  you 
find  this  herder/'  Curtis  said  to  the  ranchers,  "but 
I  cannot  allow  you  to  charge  my  people  with  his  death 
without  greater  reason  than  at  present.  We  must 
move  calmly  and  without  heat  in  this  matter.  Mur- 
der is  a  serious  charge  to  make  without  ample  proof." 

The  Elk,  smiling  and  serene,  entered  the  door  and 
stood  for  a  moment  searching  the  countenances  of 
the  white  men.  His  face  grew  grave  as  the  swift 
signs  of  his  agent  filled  his  mind  with  the  story  of 
the  disappearance  of  the  herder. 

208 


THE  SHERIFF'S  MOB 

"I  am  sorry;  it  is  bad  business,"  he  said. 

"Now,  Crawling  Elk,  I  want  you  to  call  together 
five  or  six  of  your  best  trailers  and  go  with  these  men 
to  the  place  where  the  herder  was  last  seen  and  see 
if  you  can  find  any  trace  of  him;"  then,  turning  to 
Streeter,  he  said :  "  You  know  Crawling  Elk;  he  is  the 
one  chief  against  whom  you  have  no  enmity.  If 
Cole  was  murdered,  his  body  will  be  found.  Until 
you  have  more  proof  of  his  death  I  must  ask  you  to 
give  my  people  the  benefit  of  the  doubt.  Good-day, 
gentlemen." 

As  they  turned  to  go,  two  young  reds  were  seen 
leaving  the  window.  They  had  watched  Curtis  as 
he  signed  the  story  to  Crawling  Elk.  As  the  white 
men  emerged  these  young  fellows  were  leaning 
lazily  on  the  fence,  betraying  no  interest  and  very 
little  animation,  but  a  few  minutes  later  they  were 
mounted  and  riding  up  the  valley  at  full  gallop,  heavy 
with  news  of  the  herder's  death  and  Streeter's  threats. 

"Now,  Elk,"  signed  Curtis,  "say  nothing  to  any 
one  but  your  young  men  and  the  captain  of  police, 
whom  I  will  send  with  you  to  bring  me  word." 

After  they  had  all  ridden  away,  Curtis  turned  to 
Wilson  and  said,  "  I  didn't  suppose  I  should  live  to 
see  a  sheep-man  and  a  cattleman  riding  side  by  side 
in  this  amicable  fashion." 

"  Oh,  they'll  get  together  against  the  Indian,  all 
right.  They're  mighty  glad  of  a  chance  to  make  any 
kind  of  common  cause.  That  lazy  herder  has  jumped 
the  country.  He  told  me  he  was  sick  of  his  job." 

"But  the  dog?" 

"Oh,  he  killed  the  dog  to  keep  him  from  being 
traced.     There  isn't  a  thing  in  it,  Major. " 
H  209 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"I'm  inclined  to  think  you're  right,  but  we  must 
make  careful  investigation ;  the  people  are  very  cen- 
sorious of  my  policy/' 

Next  morning  Crawling  Elk  brought  word  that  no 
trace  of  the  man  could  be  found.  <f  The  grass  is  very 
dry/'  he  explained,  "and  the  trail  is  old.  We  dis- 
covered nothing  except  some  horses'  hoof-marks/' 

"Keep  searching  till  every  foot  of  land  is  covered/' 
commanded  Curtis.  "  Otherwise  the  white  man  will 
complain." 

On  Friday,  just  after  the  bell  had  called  the  people 
to  resume  work  at  one  o'clock,  Crow,  the  police  cap- 
tain, rode  into  the  yard  on  a  pony  covered  with  ridges 
of  dried  sweat  His  face  was  impassive,  but  his 
eyes  glittered  a  he  lifted  his  hand  and  signed : 

"The  white  man's  body  is  found!" 

"Where?"  asked  Curtis  from  the  door- way. 

"On  the  high  ground  near  the  spring.  He  has 
three  bullet -holes  in  him.  Three  cartridge  -  shells 
were  found  where  the  horses'  hoof -marks  were.  The 
ones  who  shot  dismounted  there  and  fired  over  a  little 
knoll.  There  are  many  white  men  over  there  now; 
they  are  very  angry.  They  are  coming  here — " 

"Be  silent!  Come  in  here!"  Once  within  the 
office,  Curtis  drew  from  Crow  Wing  all  he  knew.  He 
was  just  in  the  midst  of  giving  his  orders  when  Wil- 
son opened  the  door  and  said,  quietly,  though  his 
voice  had  a  tremulous  intensity : 

"Major,  step  here  a  moment." 

Curtis  wrent  to  the  door.  He  could  not  restrain  a 
smile,  even  while  a  cold  chill  went  to  his  heart.  Noth- 
ing could  exceed  the  suddenness  of  the  change  which 
had  swept  over  the  agency.  As  he  had  stood  in  the 

210 


THE  SHERIFF'S  MOB 

office  door  ten  minutes  before,  his  ears  had  been  filled 
with  the  clink-clank  of  the  blacksmiths'  hammers,  the 
shouts  of  drivers,  and  the  low  laughter  of  young 
women  on  their  way  to  the  store.  Crane's  Voice 
was  hitching  up  his  team,  while  Lost  Legs  and  Turkey 
Tail  were  climbing  to  the  roof  of  the  warehouse  with 
pots  of  red  paint.  Peter  Wolf  was  mending  a  mow- 
ing-machine, and  his  brother  Robert  was  cutting 
wood  behind  the  agency  kitchen.  All  about  he  had 
observed  groups  of  white-blanketed  Indians  smok- 
ing cigarettes  in  the  shade  of  the  buildings,  while 
a  crowd  of  nearly  twenty  others  stood  watching 
a  game  of  duck  -  on  -  the  -  rock  before  the  agency 
store. 

Now  as  he  looked  over  the  yards  not  a  redman  could 
be  seen  at  his  work.  On  every  side  the  people,  with- 
out apparent  haste,  but  surely,  steadily,  and  swiftly, 
were  scattering.  The  anvil  no  longer  cried  out,  the 
teamsters  were  silent,  all  laughter  had  ceased,  the 
pots  of  paint  sat  scorching  in  the  sun.  There  was 
something  fiercely  ominous  as  well  as  uncanny  in 
this  sudden,  silent  dispersion  of  a  busy,  merry  throng, 
and  Curtis,  skilled  in  Indian  signs,  appreciated  to 
the  full  the  distrust  of  the  white  man  here  expressed. 
He  understood  this  panic.  The  settlers  had  long 
threatened  war.  Now  the  pretext  had  come,  and  the 
sound  of  guns  was  about  to  begin. 

"Wilson,"  said  Curtis,  calmly,  "if  the  settlers 
fire  a  shot  they  will  regret  it.  See  Crane's  Voice,  if 
you  can  find  him,  and  send  him  to  me/'  He  turned 
to  Crow  and  signed :  "  Go  tell  your  people  I  will  not 
let  the  cowboys  hurt  them.  Hurry!  Call  them  all 
back.  Tell  them  to  go  to  work.  I  will  call  the  sol- 

211 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

diers,  if  necessary,  to  keep  the  white  man  away.  There 
is  no  danger." 

Crow  was  a  brave  and  loyal  man,  and,  weary  as  he 
was,  hastened  to  carry  out  his  orders.  The  call  for 
"assembly"  was  rung  on  the  signal-bell,  and  a  few 
of  the  red  employes  responded.  To  them  Curtis 
spoke  reassuringly,  but  his  words  were  belied  by 
Thomas  Big  Voice,  the  official  interpreter,  who  was 
so  scared  his  knees  shook. 

Curtis  sent  Wilson  to  quiet  the  teachers  and  hur- 
ried immediately  to  the  studio,  where  Elsie  was  at 
work  painting  a  portrait  of  old  Chief  Black  Bull. 
The  old  man  sprang  to  his  feet  the  instant  he  caught 
sight  of  his  agent's  face. 

"  Friend,  what  is  the  matter?"  he  asked. 

To  Elsie,  Curtis  said :  "  Do  not  be  alarmed." 

"There  is  no  danger,"  he  signed  to  Black  Bull. 
"The  white  man's  body  has  been  found  near  the 
spring.  He  was  shot  by  two  men  with  horses.  The 
white  men  are  coming  to  see  me  about  it,  but  there 
is  no  need  of  alarm.  Tell  your  people  to  go  quietly 
to  their  camps.  I  will  protect  them." 

The  old  chief's  face  grew  sterner  as  he  flung  his 
blanket  over  his  arm.  "  I  go  to  see,"  he  said.  "  The 
white  men  are  very  angry." 

"Wait!"  called  Curtis.  "Keep  your  people  quiet 
right  where  they  are.  You  must  help  me.  I  de- 
pend on  you.  You  must  not  alarm  them." 

"I  will  do  as  you  command,"  Bull  replied,  as  he 
went  away,  but  it  was  plain  he  apprehended  violence. 

"  What  is  the  matter?"  inquired  Elsie. 

"The  settlers  have  discovered  the  body  of  the  herder 
who  was  killed,  and  Crow  brings  word  they  are  angry. 

212 


THE  SHERIFF'S  MOB 

I  don't  think  there  is  any  danger,  but  I  wish  you  and 
Jennie  were  at  the  fort  for  a  few  days.  I  don't  like 
to  have  you  disturbed  by  these  things." 

It  was  their  first  meeting  alone  since  their  return 
from  the  camping-trip,  but  Elsie  was  too  much  con- 
cerned with  the  serious  expression  of  his  face  to  feel 
any  embarrassment. 

"  You  don't  think  there  will  be  trouble?" 

"No,  only  a  distracting  wrangle,  which  may  pre- 
vent your  getting  models.  The  Indians  are  nervous, 
and  are  even  now  getting  out  for  the  hills.  But  I 
hope  you  will  not  be  alarmed." 

"I'm  not  a  nervous  person." 

"I  know  you're  not — that  is  the  reason  I  dared  to 
come  and  tell  you  what  was  going  on.  I  deeply  re- 
gret-" 

Wilson  rapped  on  the  door.  "Major,  you  are 
needed.  Bow-legs  reports  two  bodies  of  armed  men 
riding  up  the  valley;  the  dust  of  their  horses'  hoofs 
can  be  seen.  There  are  at  least  twenty  men  in  the 
two  squads,"  Wilson  continued;  "one  came  across 
from  the  West  Fork,  the  other  came  from  the  south. 
It  looks  like  a  prearranged  invasion." 

"  Very  well,  Wilson,  I'll  be  at  the  office  in  time  to 
meet  them." 

Curtis  turned  on  Elsie  a  look  which  went  to  her 
heart.  His  voice  was  low  as  he  said :  "  Let  me  take 
you  over  to  Jennie.  I  presume  these  men  are  coming 
to  make  a  demand  on  me  for  the  murderers.  They 
may  or  may  not  know  who  the  guilty  ones  are,  but 
their  coming  in  force  by  prearrangement  has  alarmed 
the  people." 

As  she  laid  down  her  brushes  and  took  up  her  hat 
213 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

she  said,  gleefully :  "  Falher  won't  be  able  to  ask  me 
what  I  know  about  war — will  he?  Will  they  begin 
shooting  at  once?" 

"  I  don't  think  they  are  likely  to  do  anything  as  a 
body,  but  some  reckless  cowboy  may  do  violence  to 
some  Tetong,  which  will  rouse  the  tribe  to  retaliation. 
The  settlers  have  too  much  sense  to  incite  an  out- 
break." At  the  door  he  said:  "I  wish  you  would  go 
to  Jennie.  Tell  her  not  to  get  excited.  I  will  let  you 
know  what  it  is  all  about  as  soon  as  I  find  out  my- 
self. It  may  be  all  a  mistake. " 

As  he  was  crossing  the  road  Lawson  joined  him, 
and  when  they  reached  the  gate  before  the  office, 
several  of  the  invaders  had  dismounted  and  were 
waiting  the  agent's  coming.  There  were  eleven  of 
them ;  all  were  deeply  excited,  and  two  or  three  of  the 
younger  men  were  observably  drunk  and  reckless. 
Streeter,  stepping  forward,  introduced  a  short,  sullen- 
faced  man  as  "  Sheriff  Winters,  of  Pinon  County." 

"What  name?"  said  Curtis,  as  he  shook  hands 
pleasantly. 

"  Sheriff  Winters,"  repeated  Streeter. 

"What  is  the  meaning  of  all  this?"  queried  Curtis. 

"We  have  come  for  the  man  that  killed  Ed  Cole. 
We  are  a  committee  appointed  by  a  convention  of 
three  hundred  citizens  who  are  holding  an  inquest 
over  the  body,"  said  Winters.  "  We  have  come  for 
the  murderer." 

"  Do  you  know  who  committed  the  murder?" 

"No,  but  we  know  it  was  an  Injun." 

"How  do  you  know  it?"  They  hesitated.  "Do 
you  come  as  an  officer  of  the  law?  Have  you  a  war- 
rant?" 

214 


THE   SHERIFF'S  MOB 

"  No,  I  have  not,  but  we  are  determined — " 

"  Then  I  deny  your  right  to  be  here.  Your  coming 
is  an  armed  invasion  of  federal  territory/'  said  Cur- 
tis, and  his  voice  rang  like  steel. 

"  Here  comes  the  other  fellers/'  called  some  one  in 
the  crowd.  Turning  his  head,  Curtis  saw  another 
squad  of  men  filing  down  over  the  hill  from  the  north. 
He  counted  them  and  made  out  fifteen.  Turning 
sharply  to  the  sheriff,  he  asked :  "  Who  are  those  men?" 

"I  don't  know." 

"  Are  you  responsible  for  their  coming?" 

"  No,  sir,  I  am  not!"  the  sheriff  replied,  plainly  on 
the  defence. 

As  the  second  squad  came  galloping  up,  the  sher- 
iff's party  greeted  them  with  nods  and  low  words. 
Curtis  heard  one  man  ask:  "Where's  Charley?  I 
thought  he  was  coming,"  and  became  perfectly  cer- 
tain that  this  meeting  had  been  prearranged.  The 
new-comers  mingled  with  the  sheriff's  party  quite 
indistinguishably  and  made  no  further  explanation 
of  their  presence. 

The  young  officer  burned  hot  with  indignation. 
"Sheriff  Winters,  order  these  men  to  retire  at  once. 
They  have  no  business  here!" 

A  mutter  of  rage  ran  over  the  mob  and  several  hands 
dropped  ostentatiously  upon  pistols. 

One  loud-voiced  young  whelp  called  out  an  insult- 
ing word.  "You  go  to !  We'll  retire  when  we 

get  an  Injun,  not  before!" 

"Shut  up,  you  fool!"  called  the  sheriff,  and,  turn- 
ing to  Jenks,  began  to  mutter  in  consultation.  Cur- 
tis advanced  a  step,  and  raising  his  voice  addressed 
the  entire  mob. 

215 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"As  commander  of  this  reservation,  I  order  you 
to  withdraw.  Your  presence  here  is  unlawful  and 
menacing.  Retire  to  the  boundary  of  the  reserva- 
tion, and  I  will  use  every  effort  to  discover  the  mur- 
derer. If  he  is  in  the  tribe  I  will  find  him  and  deliver 
him  to  the  county  authorities." 

At  this  one  of  the  same  young  ruffians  who  had 
challenged  him  before  spurred  his  horse  close  to 
Curtis,  and  with  his  pistol  in  his  hand  shouted :  "  Not 

by  a  d sight.  We  come  to  take  it  out  o'  these 

thieves,  and  we're  goin'  to  do  it.  Go  ahead,  Win- 
ters— say  the  word  and  well  clean  out  the  whole 
tribe/' 

Curtis  looked  the  youth  in  the  eye.  "My  boy,  I 
advise  you  to  make  war  slowly,  even  with  your 
mouth." 

Calvin  Streeter,  with  his  teeth  clinched,  crowded 
his  horse  forward  and  struck  the  insolent  hoodlum 
in  the  face  with  his  hat.  "  Shut  up,  or  I'll  pinch  your 
neck  off!  Think  you're  sheriff?"  The  belligerent 
retired,  snarling  wild  curses. 

Curtis  addressed  himself  again  to  Winters,  as- 
suming a  tone  of  respect  and  confidence  which  he 
did  not  feel.  "Mr.  Winters,  you  are  here  as  a  rep- 
resentative of  the  courts  of  Pinon  County.  I  call 
upon  you,  as  sheriff,  to  disperse  all  these  men,  who 
are  here  without  warrant  of  law!" 

The  sheriff  hesitated,  for  the  cattlemen  were  now 
furious  and  eager  to  display  their  valor.  Many  of 
them  were  of  the  roughest  types  of  cowboys,  the  pro- 
fane and  reckless  renegades  of  older  communities, 
and  being  burdened  with  ammunition,  and  fool- 
hardy with  drink,  they  were  in  no  mood  to  turn  tail 

2l6 


THE   SHERIFF'S   MOB 

and  ride  away.  They  savagely  blustered,  flourish- 
ing their  revolvers  recklessly. 

The  sheriff  attempted  to  silence  them,  and  said, 
petulantly,  to  Curtis :  "  If  I  hadn't  come  you'd  'a'  had 
a  mob  of  two  hundred  armed  men  instead  of  twenty. 
I  had  hard  work  to  keep  'em  back.  I  swore  in  these 
ten  men  as  my  deputies.  This  second  crowd  I  don't 
know  anything  about.  They  just  happen  to  be  here. " 

Curtis  knew  this  to  be  a  lie,  but  proceeded  to  ca- 
jole the  sheriff  by  recognizing  him  and  his  author- 
ity. 

"In  that  case  I  shall  act."  Addressing  the  leader 
of  the  second  party,  he  said :  "  Sheriff  Winters  is  the 
legal  representative  of  the  county;  you  are  an  un- 
lawful mob,  and  I  once  more  command  you  to  leave 
the  reservation,  which  is  federal  territory,  under  my 
command." 

"No,  you  don't!  We  stay  right  here!"  shouted 
several. 

"We'll  see  whether  the  people  of  this  State  have 
any  rights  or  not,"  said  Jenks,  deeply  excited.  "We 
won't  allow  you  to  shield  your  murdering  redskins 
under  such  a  plea;  we'll  be  judge  and  jury  in  this 
case." 

Curtis  turned  sharply  to  the  sheriff:  "Officer,  do 
your  duty!  Dispose  of  this  mob!"  His  tone  was 
magnificently  commanding.  "I  shall  hold  you  re- 
sponsible for  further  trouble,"  said  Curtis,  turning  a 
long  look  on  Winters,  which  stung. 

The  sheriff  angrily  addressed  the  crowd.  "Get 
out  o'  this,  boys.  You're  twisting  me  all  up  and 
doing  no  good.  Vamoose  now!  I've  got  all  the 
help  I  need.  I'm  just  as  much  obliged,  but  you'd 

217 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

better  clear  out."  Then  to  his  deputies,  "Round 
'em  up,  boys,  and  send  'em  away/' 

Calvin's  face  wore  a  smile  of  wicked  glee  as  he 
called  out : 

"Now  you  fellers  git!''  and  spurring  his  horse  into 
their  midst  he  hustled  them.  "Hunt  your  holes! 
You're  more  bother  than  you  are  worth.  Git  out  o' 
here!" 

While  the  sheriff  and  his  deputies  alternately  plead- 
ed and  commanded  the  mob  to  withdraw,  Lawson 
touched  Curtis  on  the  arm  and  pointed  to  the  crests 
of  the  hills  to  the  west.  On  every  smooth  peak  a 
mounted  sentinel  stood,  silent  and  motionless  as  a 
figure  on  a  monument — watching  the  struggle  going 
on  before  the  agency  gate. 

"Behind  every  hill  young  warriors  are  riding/' 
said  Lawson.  "By  sundown  every  man  and  boy 
will  be  armed  and  ready  for  battle.  If  these  noble 
citizens  knew  what  you  have  saved  them  from  they 
would  bless  you/' 

The  mob  of  cattlemen  retreated  slowly,  with  many 
fierce  oaths  and  a  jangle  of  loud  debate  which  Cur- 
tis feared  each  moment  might  break  into  a  crackle  of 
pistol  shots. 

"That  was  a  good  stroke,"  said  Lawson.  "It 
sets  up  division,  and  so  weakens  them.  You  will  be 
able  to  handle  the  sheriff  now." 


XX 

FEMININE  STRATEGY 

HAVING  seen  the  horsemen  ride  away,  Jennie 
and  Elsie  came  across  the  road  tense  with  ex- 
citement. 

"  Tell  us  all  about  it?     Have  they  gone?" 

"Who  are  they?" 

"We  hope  they  are  gone/*  Curtis  replied,  as  lightly 
as  he  could.  "It  was  the  sheriff  of  Pinon  County 
and  a  lynching  party.  I  have  persuaded  one  mob 
to  drive  away  the  other.  They  were  less  dangerous 
than  they  seemed/' 

"See  those  heads!"  exclaimed  Lawson,  pointing 
out  several  employe's  who  were  peering  cautiously 
over  roofs  and  around  corners.  "Not  one  has  re- 
tained his  hat/'  he  added.  "If  the  danger  sharpens, 
off  will  come  their  shirts  and  trousers,  and  those  bellig- 
erent white  men  will  find  themselves  contending 
with  six  hundred  of  the  best  fighters  in  the  world." 

"We  must  temporize/'  said  Curtis.  "A  single 
shot  now  would  be  disaster."  He  checked  himself 
there,  but  Lawson  understood  as  well  as  he  the  sit- 
uation. 

Jennie  was  not  yet  satisfied.  "Has  the  sheriff 
come  for  some  one  in  particular?" 

"  No,  he  has  no  warrant,  hasn't  even  a  clew  to  the 
219 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

murder.  He  is  really  at  the  lead  of  a  lynching  partj 
himself,  and  has  no  more  right  to  be  here  than  the 
men  he  is  driving  away/' 

"What  ought  he  to  do?"  asked  Elsie. 

"  He  should  go  home.  It  is  my  business  as  agent 
to  make  the  arrest.  I  have  only  a  half-dozen  police, 
and  I  dare  not  attempt  to  force  him  and  his  party  to 
leave  the  reservation/' 

"The  whole  situation  is  this/'  explained  Lawson, 
"  They've  made  this  inquest  the  occasion  for  bring- 
ing all  the  hot-headed  fools  of  the  country  together, 
and  this  is  a  bluff  which  they  think  will  intimidate 
the  Indians." 

"They  wouldn't  dare  to  begin  shooting,  would 
they?"  asked  Elsie. 

"You  can't  tell  what  such  civilized  persons  will 
do/'  said  Lawson.  "But  Curtis  has  the  sheriff 
thinking,  and  the  worst  of  it  is  over." 

"Here  they  come  again!"  exclaimed  Wilson,  who 
surprised  Curtis  by  remaining  cool  and  watchful 
through  this  first  mutiny. 

At  a  swift  gallop  the  sheriff  and  his  posse  came 
whirling  back  up  the  road — a  wild  and  warlike  squad 
— hardly  more  tractable  than  the  redoubtables  they 
had  rounded  up  and  thrown  down  the  valley. 

"  I  think  you  had  better  go  in,"  said  Curtis  to  Elsie. 
"  Jennie,  take  her  back  to  the  house  for  a  little  while." 

"  No,  let  us  stay,"  cried  Elsie.  "  I  want  to  see  this 
sheriff  myself.  If  we  hear  the  talk  we'll  be  less  ner- 
vous." 

Curtis  was  firm.  "  This  is  no  place  for  you.  These 
cowboys  have  no  respect  for  God,  man,  or  devil;  please 
go  in." 

220 


FEMININE  STRATEGY 

Jennie  started  to  obey,  but  Elsie  obstinately  held 
her  ground. 

"I  will  not!  I  have  the  right  to  know  what  is 
threatening  me!  I  always  hated  to  go  below  in  a 
storm/' 

In  a  cloud  of  dust — with  snorting  of  excited  horses, 
the  posse,  with  the  sheriff  at  its  head,  again  pulled  up  at 
the  gate.  The  young  men  stared  at  the  two  daintily 
dressed  girls  with  eyes  of  stupefaction.  Here  was 
an  unlooked-for  complication.  A  new  element  had 
entered  the  controversy.  The  sheriff  slid  from  his 
horse  and  gave  a  rude  salute  with  his  big  brown 
fist. 

"Howdy,  ladies,  howdy."  It  was  plain  he  was 
deeply  embarrassed  by  this  turn  of  affairs. 

Elsie  seized  Curtis  by  the  arm  and  whispered: 
"Introduce  me  to  him — quick!  Tell  him  who  I  am." 

Curtis  instantly  apprehended  her  plan.  "Sheriff 
Winters,  this  is  Miss  Brisbane,  daughter  of  ex-Sena- 
tor Brisbane,  of  Washington/' 

The  sheriff  awkwardly  seized  her  small  hand, 
"Pleased  to  make  your  acquaintance,  miss,"  he 
said.  "I  know  the  Senator  well/' 

Curtis  turned  to  Jennie,  who  came  forward — "  And 
this  is  my  sister/' 

"  I've  heard  of  you,"  the  sheriff  said,  regaining  his 
self-possession.  "I'm  sorry  to  disturb  you,  ladies — " 

Elsie  looked  at  him  and  quietly  said :  "  I  hope  you 
will  not  be  hasty,  sheriff  ;  my  father  will  not  sanction 
violence." 

"You're  being  here  makes  a  difference,  miss — of 
course — I — " 

Jennie  spoke  up :  "  You  must  be  hungry,  Mr.  Sher- 
221 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

iff,"  she  said,  and  smiling  up  at  Calvin,  added,  "and 
so  are  your  men.  Why  not  picket  your  horses  and 
have  some  lunch  with  us?" 

Curtis  took  advantage  of  the  hesitation.  "That's 
the  reasonable  thing,  men.  We  can  discuss  meas- 
ures at  our  ease/' 

The  cowboys  looked  at  each  other  with  signif- 
icant glances.  Several  began  to  dust  themselves  and 
to  slyly  swab  their  faces  with  their  gay  kerchiefs,  and 
one  or  two  became  noticeably  redder  about  the  ears 
as  they  looked  down  at  their  horses'  bridles. 

Calvin  broke  the  silence.  "I  don't  let  this  chance 
slip,  boys.  I'm  powerful  keen,  myself." 

"  So  'm  I,"  echoed  several  others. 

The  sheriff  coughed.  "Well — really — I'm  agree- 
able, but  I'm  afeerd  it  '11  be  a  powerful  sight  o'  trouble, 
miss." 

"  Oh  no,  let  us  attend  to  that,"  cried  Jennie.  "  We 
shall  expect  you  in  fifteen  minutes,"  and  taking 
Elsie  by  the  arm,  she  started  across  the  road. 

As  the  cowboys  followed  the  graceful  retreating 
figures  of  the  girls,  Lawson  and  Curtis  looked  at  each 
other  with  eyes  of  amazement;  Lawson  acknowl- 
edged a  mighty  impulse  to  laugh.  "How  unmili- 
tary,"  he  muttered. 

"  But  how  effective,"  replied  Curtis,  his  lips  twitch- 
ing. 

The  cowboys  muttered  among  themselves.  "  Say, 
is  this  a  dream?" 

"Who  said  pork-and-beans?" 

"Does  my  necktie  kiver  my  collar-button?"  asked 
a  third. 

"Come,   boys!"   called   Curtis,   cheerily.     "While 

222 


FEMININE   STRATEGY 

the  sheriff  and  I  have  a  little  set-to,  you  water  your 
ponies  and  dust  off,  and  be  ready  for  cold  potatoes. 
You're  a  little  late  for  a  square  meal,  but  I  think  we 
can  ease  your  pangs/' 

With  a  patter  of  jocose  remarks  the  cowboys  rode 
off  down  towards  the  creek,  taking  the  sheriff's  horse 
along  with  them. 

Curtis  turned  to  Lawson.  "I  wish  you'd  bring 
that  code  over  to  the  house,  Lawson.  I  want  to  show 
that  special  clause  to  the  sheriff." 

Turning  to  Winters,  he  said:  "Come,  let's  go 
across  to  my  library  and  talk  our  differences  over  in 
comfort/' 

The  sheriff  dusted  his  trousers  with  the  broad  of 
his  hand.  "Well,  now,  I'm  in  no  condition  to  sit 
down  with  ladies/' 

'Til  give  you  a  chance  to  clean  up,"  replied  Cur- 
tis, who  plainly  saw  that  the  girls  had  the  rough 
bordermen  "on  the  ice  and  going/'  as  Calvin  would 
say.  A  man  can  brag  and  swear  and  bluster  out  of 
doors,  or  in  a  bare,  tobacco-stained  office ;  but  in  a 
library,  surrounded  by  books,  in  the  hearing  of  ladies, 
he  is  more  human — more  reasonable.  Jennie's  invi- 
tation had  turned  impending  defeat  to  victory. 

Curtis  took  Winters  into  his  own  bedroom  and  put 
its  toilet  articles  at  his  service  and  left  him.  As  the 
sheriff  came  out  into  the  Captain's  library  five  min- 
utes later,  it  was  plain  he  had  washed  away  a  large 
part  of  his  ferocity ;  his  hair,  plastered  down  smooth, 
represented  the  change  in  his  mental  condition — his 
quills  were  laid.  He  was,  in  fact,  fairly  meek. 

Curtis  confidentially  remarked,  in  a  low  voice :  "  You 
see,  sheriff,  we  must  manage  this  thing  quietly.  We 

223 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

mustn't  endanger  these  women,  and  especially  Miss 
Brisbane.  If  the  old  Senator  gets  a  notion  his  daugh- 
ter is  in  danger — " 

Winters  blew  a  whiff.  "  Great  God,  he'd  tear  the 
State  wide  open!  No,  the  boys  were  too  hasty.  As 
I  say,  I  saw  the  irregularity,  but  if  I  hadn't  consented 
to  lead  a  posse  in  here  that  whole  inquest  would  have 
come  a-rampin'  down  on  ye.  I  said  to  'em,  '  Boys/ 
I  says,  'you  can't  do  that  kind  of  thing,'  I  says. 
'  These  Tetongs  are  fighters/  I  says, '  and  you'll  have 
a  sweet  time  chasin'  'em  over  the  hills — just  go  slow 
and  learn  to  peddle/  I  says — " 

Lawson,  entering  with  the  code,  cut  him  short  in 
his  shameless  exculpation,  and  Curtis  said,  suavely  : 
"Mr.  Winters,  I  think  you  know  Mr.  Lawson." 

"We've  crossed  each  other's  trail  once  or  twice, 
I  believe,"  said  Lawson.  "Here  is  the  clause." 

Curtis  laid  the  book  before  the  sheriff,  who  pushed 
a  stubby  forefinger  against  the  letters  and  read  the 
paragraph  laboriously.  His  thick  wits  were  moved 
by  it,  and  he  said:  "Seems  a  clear  case,  and  yet 
the  reservation  is  included  in  the  lines  of  Pinon 
County.  'Pears  like  the  county  dought  'o  have  some 
rights." 

"Well,  here  comes  the  posse,"  said  Curtis;  "we'll 
talk  it  all  over  with  them  after  lunch.  Come  in, 
boys!"  he  called  cheerily  to  the  straggling  herders, 
who  came  in  sheepishly,  one  by  one,  their  spurs  rat- 
tling, their  big,  limp  hats  twisted  in  their  hands. 
They  had  pounded  the  alkali  from  each  other's  shirt, 
and  their  red  faces  shone  with  the  determined  rub- 
bing they  had  received.  All  the  wild  grace  of  their 
horsemanship  was  gone,  and  as  they  sidled  in  and 

224 


FEMININE  STRATEGY 

squatted  down  along  the  wall  they  were  anything 
but  ferocious  in  manner  or  speech. 

"Ah,  now,  this  is  all  right/'  each  man  said,  when 
Curtis  offered  chairs.  "You  take  the  chair,  Jim; 
you  take  it,  Joe — this  suits  me." 

Lawson  was  interested  in  their  cranial  develop- 
ment, and  their  alignment  along  the  wall  gave  a 
fine  opportunity  for  comparison.  "They  were,  for 
the  most  part,  shapeless  and  of  small  capacity/'  he 
said  afterwards — "just  country  bumpkins,  trained 
to  the  horse  and  the  revolver,  but  each  of  them  arro- 
gated to  himself  the  judicial  mind  of  the  Almighty 
Creator/' 

The  sheriff,  leaning  far  back  in  the  big  Morris 
chair,  wore  a  smirking  smile  which  seemed  to  say: 
"  Boys,  I'm  onto  this  luxury  all  right.  Stuffed  chair 
don't  get  me  no  back-ache.  Nothing's  too  rich  for 
my  blood — if  I  can  get  it." 

The  young  fellows  were  transfixed  with  awe  of 
Calvin,  for,  though  the  last  to  enter  the  house,  he 
walked  calmly  past  the  library  door  on  into  the 
dining-room,  and  a  moment  later  could  be  heard 
chatting  with  the  girls,  "sassy  as  a  whiskey-jack." 

One  big,  freckled  young  fellow  nudged  his  neigh- 
bor and  said :  "  Wouldn't  that  pull  your  teeth?  That 
wall-eyed  sorrel  has  waltzed  right  into  the  kitchen 
to  buzz  the  women.  Say,  his  neck  needs  shorten- 
ing." 

"  Does  he  stand  in,  or  is  it  just  gall?" 

"  It's  nerve — nothing  else.  We  ain't  onto  our  job, 
that's  all." 

"Oh,  he  knows  'em  all  right.  I  heered  he  stands 
in  with  the  agent's  sister." 

'5  225 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"The  hell  he  does!  Lookin'  that  way?  Well,  I 
don't  think.  It's  his  brass-bound  cheek.  Wait  till 
we  ketch  him  alone." 

Cal  appeared  at  the  door.  "  Well,  fellers,  come 
in;  grub's  all  spread  out." 

"What  you  got  to  say  about  it?"  asked  Green. 

"  Think  you're  the  nigger  that  rings  the  bell,  don't 
ye?"  remarked  Galvin.  "  We're  waitin'  for  the  boss 
to  say  "when." 

Not  one  of  them  stirred  till  Curtis  rose,  saying  to 
the  sheriff,  "  Well,  we'll  take  time  later  to  discuss 
that;  come  right  out  and  tame  the  wolf." 

The  fact  that  Curtis  accepted  Calvin's  call  impressed 
the  crowd  deeply. 

"You'd  think  he  was  one  o'  the  fambly,"  mut- 
tered Galvin.  "Wait  till  we  get  a  rope  'round  his 
neck." 

The  table,  looking  cool  and  dainty  in  its  fleckless 
linen,  was  set  with  plates  of  cold  chicken  and  ham, 
with  pots  of  jelly  and  white  bread  at  each  end  of  the 
cloth,  beside  big  pitchers  of  cool  milk.  To  the  cow- 
boys, accustomed  only  to  their  rude  camps  and  the 
crude  housekeeping  of  the  settlers  round  about,  this 
dainty  cleanliness  of  dining-room  was  marvellously 
subduing.  They  shuffled  into  their  seats  noisily, 
with  only  swift,  animal-like  glances  at  the  girls,  who 
were  bubbling  over  with  the  excitement  of  feeding 
this  band  of  Cossacks. 

As  they  drank  their  milk  and  fed  great  slices  of 
bread  and  jelly  into  their  mouths,  fighting  Indians 
seemed  less  necessary  than  they  had  supposed.  Whis- 
key and  alkali  dust,  and  the  smell  of  sweating  ponies, 
were  all  forgotten  in  the  quiet  and  sweetness  of  this 

226 


FEMININE  STRATEGY 

pretty  home.     The  soft  answer  had  turned  wrath  into 
shamefaced  wonder  and  awkward  courtesy. 

Curtis,  sitting  at  the  head  of  the  board  as  host, 
plied  the  sheriff  with  cold  chicken,  discussing  mean- 
while the  difficulties  under  which  the  Tetongs  labored, 
and  drew  from  that  sorely  beleaguered  officer  ad- 
missions which  he  afterwards  regretted.  "That's 
so,  I  don't  know  as  I'd  do  any  better  in  their  places, 
but—" 

Jennie,  with  a  keen  perception  of  her  power  over 
her  guests,  went  from  one  to  the  other,  inquiring,  in 
her  sweetest  voice:  "Won't  you  have  another  slice 
of  bread?  Please  do!" 

Elsie,  less  secure  of  manner,  followed  her  with  the 
pitcher  of  milk,  while  the  young  men  bruised  each 
other's  shins  beneath  the  table  in  their  zealous  ef- 
forts to  diminish  the  joy  each  one  took  in  the  allur- 
ing presence  of  his  cup-bearer. 

Calvin  sat  near  the  end  of  the  table,  and  his  as- 
sured manner  made  the  others  furious.  "Look  at 
that  stoatin'  bottle,"  growled  Green,  out  of  the  cor- 
ner of  his  mouth;  " he  needs  killinV 

"Ah,  we'll  fix  that  tommy-cod!"  replied  Galvin. 

While  the  girls  were  at  the  upper  end  of  the  table 
the  man  on  Calvin's  right  leaned  over  and  said : 

"  Say,  Cal,  'pears  like  you  got  the  run  o'  the  house 
here."' 

Calvin,  big  with  joy  and  pride,  replied :  "  Oh,  I  ride 
round  and  picket  here  once  in  a  while.  It  pays." 

"  Well,  I  should  say  yes  —  carry  all  your  cheek 
right  with  ye,  don't  ye?" 

As  the  boys  began  to  shove  back,  Curtis  brought 
out  a  box  of  cigars  and  passed  them  along  the  line. 

227 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"  Take  hearty,  boys ;  they  don't  belong  to  the  gov- 
ernment; they're  mine,  and  you'll  find  them  good." 

As  they  were  all  helping  themselves,  the  sheriff 
coughed  loudly  and  called  out:  "Boys,  the  Major 
and  me  has  fixed  this  thing  up.  I  won't  need  but 
three  of  you ;  the  rest  can  ride  back  and  tell  the  gang 
on  the  West  Fork  it's  all  right.  Cal,  you  and  Tom 
and  Green  stay  with  me.  The  rest  of  you  can  go 
as  soon  as  your  dinner's  settled." 

The  ones  not  chosen  looked  a  little  disappointed, 
but  they  made  no  protest.  As  they  rose  to  go  out 
they  all  made  powerful  effort  to  do  the  right  thing; 
they  lifted  their  eyes  to  the  girls  for  a  last  glance  and 
grumbled : 

"Much  obliged,  ladies!" 

And  in  this  humble  fashion  the  ferocious  posse  of 
the  sheriff  retreated  from  the  house  of  their  enemy. 

Once  outside,  they  turned  on  each  other  with  broad 
grins.  They  straightened  —  took  on  grace  and  se- 
curity of  manner  again.  They  were  streaming  with 
perspiration,  and  their  neckerchiefs  were  moist  with 
the  drip  of  it,  but  they  lit  their  cigars  nonchalantly, 
flung  their  hats  rakishly  on  their  heads,  and  turned 
to  take  a  last  look  at  the  house. 

Elsie  appeared  at  the  door.  "Boys!"  she  called, 
and  her  clear  voice  transfixed  every  soul  of  them. 
"You  mustn't  do  anything  reckless.  You  won't, 
will  you?" 

Galvin  alone  was  able  to  reply.  "No,  miss,  we 
won't.  We  won't  do  nothing  to  hurt  you  nor  the 
Major's  sister — you  needn't  be  scart." 

"  You  can  trust  Captain  Curtis ;  he  will  do  what  is 
right,  I'm  sure  of  that.  Good-bye." 

228 


FEMININE  STRATEGY 

"Good-bye/'  they  answered,  one  by  one.  Noth- 
ing further  was  said  till  they  had  crossed  the  road. 
Then  one  of  the  roughest-looking  of  the  whole  gang 
turned  and  said:  "Fellers,  that  promise  goes.  We 
got  to  keep  that  mob  from  goin'  to  war  while  these 
girls  are  here.  Ain't  that  right?" 

"That's  right!" 

"Say,  fellers,  Fll  tell  you  a  job  that  would  suit 
me- 

"  Hain't  got  any  work  into  it  if  it  does." 

"What  is  it?" 

"I'd  like  to  be  detailed  to  guard  these  'queens' 
from  monkeys  like  you." 

The  others  fell  upon  this  reckless  one  with  their 
hats  and  gloves  till  he  broke  into  a  run,  and  all  dis- 
appeared down  the  road  in  a  cloud  of  dust. 


XXI 

IN   STORMY    COUNCILS 

MEANWHILE  the  sentinels  on  the  hills  missed 
little  of  the  movement  in  the  valley.  They 
quivered  with  rage  as  the  horsemen  dismounted  and 
entered  the  agent's  house,  for  that  seemed  a  defeat 
for  their  friend;  but  when  the  strangers  remounted 
and  rode  away  all  were  reassured,  and  Two  Horns 
said,  "I  will  go  down  and  see  what  it  all  means/' 

One  by  one  the  principal  native  employes  reap- 
peared. Crane's  Voice  came  out  of  the  barn,  where 
he  had  lain  with  his  eyes  to  a  crack  in  the  wall,  and 
Peter  Big- Voice  and  Robert  Wolf  stepped  cautiously 
into  view  from  behind  the  slaughter-pen.  Old  Mary, 
the  cook,  suddenly  blocked  the  kitchen  door -way, 
and,  with  tremulous  lips,  asked:  "Cowboys  gone?" 

"Yes,  all  gone,"  replied  Jennie,  much  amused. 

"Good,  good,"  replied  the  old  woman. 

"Where  have  you  been,  Mary?" 

Her  white  teeth  shone  out  in  a  sudden  smile.  "  Ice- 
house— heap  cold." 

"What  did  you  go  in  there  for?" 

"Cowboy  no  good — mebbe  so  shoot." 

"They  won't  hurt  you,"  said  Jennie,  gently.  "Go 
to  work  again.  The  Captain  will  take  care  of  you." 

"Little  Father  no  got  gun — cowboy  heap  gun." 
230 


IN  STORMY  COUNCILS 

"Little  Father  don't  need  gun  now;  you  are  all 
right/'  Jennie  .said,  and  the  old  woman  went  to  her 
work  again,  though  nervously  alert  to  every  sound. 

From  nowhere  in  particular,  two  sharp-eyed  lads 
sauntered  up  the  road  to  play  under  the  office  window, 
so  that  if  any  loud  word  should  be  spoken  the  tribe 
might  know  of  it. 

Jennie  and  Elsie  discussed  the  situation  while  sit- 
ting at  the  librarj^  window  with  a  view  of  the  agency 
front  door. 

"I  can't  for  the  life  of  me  take  a  serious  view  of 
this  episode/'  said  Jennie.  "  These  cowboys  wouldn't 
be  so  foolish  as  to  fire  a  first  shot.  They  are  like 
big,  country  school-boys." 

"The  Parkers!"  cried  Elsie,  suddenly.  "Where 
are  the  Parkers?" 

Jennie  gasped.  "True  enough!  I  had  forgotten 
all  about  them.  I  don't  believe  they  have  got  back 
from  their  ride." 

"  They  will  be  scared  blue.    We  must  send  for  them. " 

"I'll  have  Crane's  Voice  go  at  once/'  said  Jennie. 
"I  will  go  with  him." 

"Don't  do  that — not  without  letting  the  Captain 
know.  How  far  is  it?" 

"Just  over  the  hill — not  more  than  five  miles." 

But  even  as  she  was  hurrying  across  to  the  corral 
to  find  an  angel  for  this  mission  of  mercy,  she  saw 
the  Parkers  coming  down  the  hill-side,  moving  slow- 
ly, for  both  were  very  bad  riders.  It  was  plain  they 
had  heard  nothing,  and  as  she  watched  them  ap- 
proach Jennie  cried : 

"Don't  say  a  word.  They  won't  see  anything 
suspicious." 

231 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

There  was  something  irresistibly  funny  in  the  calm 
stateliness  of  the  blond  Parker  as  he  led  the  way 
past  the  store  which  was  deserted  of  its  patrons,  past 
the  school-house  where  the  students  were  quivering 
with  excitement,  and  close  beside  the  office  behind 
whose  doors  Curtis  was  still  in  legal  battle  with  the 
sheriff. 

Jennie  met  her  visitors  at  the  gate,  her  hands  clinch- 
ed in  the  effort  to  control  her  laughter.  "You  are 
late.  Are  you  hungry?"  she  asked. 

"Famished!"  said  Parker.  "I  had  to  ride  slow 
on  Mrs.  Parker's  account." 

"I  like  that!"  cried  Jennie.  "As  if  any  one  could 
be  a  worse  rider  than  you  are." 

"How  do  women  get  off,  anyway?"  asked  Parker, 
as  he  approached  his  wife's  pony. 

"Fall  off,"  suggested  Jennie,  and  this  seemed  so 
funny  that  she  and  Elsie  went  off  into  simultaneous 
hysterical  peals  of  laughter. 

"You  are  easily  amused,"  remarked  Parker,  eying 
them  keenly.  "Laugh  on;  it  is  good  for  digestion. 
Excuse  me  from  joining ;  I  haven 't  anything  to  digest. " 

Putting  his  angular  shoulder  to  Mrs.  Parker's 
waist,  he  eased  her  to  the  ground  awkwardly  but  ten- 
derly. Upon  facing  the  girls  again  and  discovering 
them  still  in  foolish  mirth,  Parker  looked  himself  all 
over  carefully,  then  turned  to  his  wife.  "We  seem 
to  be  affording  these  young  ladies  a  great  deal  of 
hearty  pleasure,  Mrs.  Parker." 

Mrs.  Parker  was  not  so  dense.  "  What  is  the  mat- 
ter?" she  asked,  sharply.  "What  has  happened? 
This  laughter  is  not  natural — you  are  both  hys- 
terical." 

232 


IN   STORMY   COUNCILS 

Both  girls  instantly  became  as  grave  as  they  had 
been  hilarious  a  moment  before. 

"Now  I  know  something  is  wrong/'  said  Mrs. 
Parker.  "Where  is  the  Captain?  What  made  you 
laugh  that  way?  Have  the  savages  broken  out?" 

Jennie  met  Parker's  eyes  fairly  popping  from  his 
head,  and  went  off  into  another  shout.  At  last  she 
paused  and  said,  breathlessly :  "  Oh,  you  are  funny ! 
Come  into  the  house.  We've  been  entertaining  a 
lynching  party — all  the  Indians  are  in  the  hills  and 
the  sheriff's  in  the  office  throttling  the  agent/' 

While  the  Parkers  consumed  their  crusts  of  bread 
and  scraps  of  cold  meat,  Jennie  told  them  what  had 
happened. 

Parker  rose  to  the  occasion.  "We  must  get  out 
o'  here  —  every  one  of  us!  We  should  never  have 
come  in  here.  Your  brother  is  to  blame ;  he  deceived 
us." 

"  He  did  not ! "  replied  Jennie.  "  You  shall  not  hold 
him  responsible!" 

"  He  knew  the  situation  was  critical/'  Parker  hotly 
retorted.  "  He  knew  an  outbreak  was  likely.  It 
was  criminal  on  his  part." 

"Jerome  Parker,  you  are  a  donkey/'  remarked 
Elsie,  calmly.  "Nothing  has  really  happened.  If 
you're  so  nervous,  go  home.  You  can't  sculp  an 
Indian,  anyway  —  grasshoppers  and  sheep  are  in 
your  line."  She  had  reverted  to  the  plain  talk  of  the 
studios.  "  Your  nervousness  amused  us  for  a  while, 
but  it  bores  us  now.  Please  shut  up  and  run  away 
if  you  are  afraid." 

"  You're  not  very  nice,"  said  Mrs.  Parker,  severely. 

"I  don't  think  it's  very  manly  of  your  husband 
233 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

when  he  begins  to  blame  Captain  Curtis  for  an  in- 
vasion of  cowboys." 

"You  admitted  you  were  scared/'  pursued  Parker. 

"Well,  suppose  we  were,  we  didn't  weep  and  com- 
plain; we  set  to  work  to  tide  over  the  crisis." 

Jennie  put  in  a  word.  "If  you'd  feel  safer  in  the 
camp  of  the  enemy,  Mr.  Parker,  we'll  set  you  down 
the  valley  with  the  settlers.  I  intend  to  stay  right 
here  with  my  brother." 

"So  do  I,"  added  Elsie;  "if  there  is  danger  it  is 
safer  here  than  with  the  cowboys;  but  the  mob  is 
gone,  and  the  Captain  and  Osborne  will  see  that  we 
are  protected." 

Meanwhile  the  office  resounded  with  the  furious 
argument  of  the  sheriff.  "The  whole  western  part 
of  the  State  is  disgusted  with  the  way  in  which  these 
Indians  escape  arrest.  They  commit  all  kinds  of 
depredations,  and  not  one  is  punished.  This  has 
got  to  stop.  We  intend  to  learn  this  tribe  it  can't 
hide  thieves  and  murderers  any  longer."  He  ended, 
blustering  like  a  northwest  wind. 

"  Produce  your  warrants  and  I'll  secure  the  men," 
replied  Curtis,  patiently.  "You  shall  not  punish  a 
whole  tribe  on  a  pure  assumption.  You  must  come 
to  me  with  a  proper  warrant  for  a  particular  man, 
and  when  you  receive  him  from  me  you  must  prove 
his  guilt  in  court.  As  the  case  now  stands,  you 
haven't  the  slightest  evidence  that  an  Indian  killed 
this  herder,  and  I  will  not  give  over  an  innocent  man 
to  be  lynched  by  you." 

As  the  sheriff  stormed  up  and  down  the  floor  Law- 
son  said,  in  a  low  voice:  "Delay — delay." 

Curtis,  who  had  been  writing  a  note,  slipped  it  to 
234 


IN  STORMY  COUNCILS 

Lawson,  who  rose  and  went  out  of  the  door.  Curtis 
continued  to  parley. 

"  I  appreciate  your  feeling  in  this  matter,  Mr.  Sher- 
iff, and  I  am  willing  to  do  what  is  right.  I  have  called 
a  council  of  my  head  men  to-night,  and  I  will  ask  them 
to  search  for  the  murderer.  An  Indian  cannot  keep 
a  secret.  If  one  of  the  Tetongs  killed  your  herder  he 
will  tell  of  it.  I  again  suggest  that  you  go  back  to 
your  people  and  assure  them  of  my  willingness  to  aid 
in  this  affair.  Give  me  three  days  in  which  to  act." 

"  That  crowd  will  not  be  satisfied  unless  we  bring 
an  Injun  with  us.  We've  got  to  do  that  or  they'll 
come  rompin'  in  here  and  raise  hell  with  you.  I  pro- 
pose to  take  old  Crawling  Elk  himself  and  hold  him 
till  the  tribe— 

"  If  you  attempt  such  a  crime  I  will  put  you  off  the 
reservation/'  replied  Curtis,  sharply. 

"Put  me  off!  By  ,  I  think  I  see  you  doing 

that!  Why,  the  whole  State  would  rise  and  wipe 
you  and  your  tribe  out  of  existence."  He  turned 
threateningly  and  towered  over  Curtis,  who  was 
seated. 

"  Be  quiet,  and  keep  your  distance,  or  I'll  put  you 
in  irons !  Sit  down ! ' ' 

These  words  were  not  spoken  loudly,  but  they 
caused  the  sheriff's  face  to  blanch  and  his  knees  to 
tremble.  There  was  a  terrifying,  set  glare  in  the 
officer's  eyes  as  he  went  on : 

"  What  do  you  suppose  would  be  the  consequences 
of  firing  upon  a  captain  of  the  United  States  army 
in  the  discharge  of  his  duty,  by  a  sheriff  acting  out- 
side the  law?  You  have  only  three  men  out  there, 
and  one  of  them  is  my  friend,  and  you  know  the  qual- 

235 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

ity  of  Calvin  Streeter.  I  am  still  in  command  of  this 
reservation,  Mr.  Sheriff." 

Lawson  re-entering  at  this  moment,  Curtis  said: 
"  Ask  Streeter  to  come  in,  will  you,  Mr.  Lawson?" 

Calvin  entered  smilingly.  "Well,  what's  the  up- 
shot?" he  asked. 

"  It  is  this,  Calvin.  The  sheriff  has  no  warrant  for 
anybody,  not  even  for  a  suspect.  I  have  asked  him 
to  go  back  and  wait  till  I  can  find  some  clew  to  the 
murderer.  Do  you  consider  that  reasonable?" 

"  It  sounds  fair,"  admitted  Calvin,  growing  grave. 

"  Now  the  question  of  whether  the  State  or  county 
authority  covers  a  federal  reservation  or  not  is  too 
big  a  question  for  us  to  settle.  You  see  that,  Calvin?" 

Calvin  scratched  his  head.  "It  sure  is  too  many 
fer  me." 

"Now  I'll  compromise  in  this  case,  Mr.  Sheriff. 
You  discharge  the  rest  of  your  deputies  and  send 
them  away,  while  you  and  Calvin  remain  with  me  to 
attend  a  council — not  to  arrest  anybody,  but  to  con- 
vince yourself  of  my  good-will  in  the  matter.  I  will 
not  permit  you  to  be  armed  nor  to  arrest  any  of  my 
Indians  until  we  know  what  we  are  doing.  When 
we  secure  evidence  against  any  man  I  will  arrest  him 
myself  and  turn  him  over  to  you.  But  I  insist  that 
you  send  away  the  men  in  the  outer  office." 

Calvin  spoke  up.  "I  reckon  the  Major's  right, 
sheriff.  How  ye  goin'  to  arrest  a  man  if  you  don't 
know  who  he  is?  I  reckon  you  better  do  as  he  says. 
I  ain't  a-lookin'  fer  no  fuss  with  the  agent,  and  the 
United  States  army  only  fifty  miles  off." 

The  sheriff  growled  surlily.  "  All  right,  but  there 
ain't  no  monkey  business  about  this.  I  get  my  man 

236 


IN  STORMY  COUNCILS 

sooner  or  later,  you  bet  your  heart  on  that."  As  he 
went  out  into  the  general  office  and  announced  the 
agent's  demand,  Green  blurted  out  defiant  phrases. 

"I'll  be  damned  if  I  would!  No  —  stick  it  out! 
Do?  Why,  take  old  Elk  and  hold  him  till  the  tribe 
produces  the  right  man — that's  the  way  we  always 
done  before." 

The  arguments  of  Calvin  could  not  be  heard,  but 
at  last  he  prevailed,  and  the  sullen  deputies  withdrew. 
The  sheriff  scrawled  a  hasty  note  to  the  county  at- 
torney to  explain  his  failure  to  bring  his  man,  and 
the  three  deputies  went  out  to  saddle  up.  Their 
cursing  was  forceful  and  varied,  but  they  went. 

Parker,  seeing  them  come  forth,  met  them,  inquir- 
ing anxiously: 

"  Well,  what  do  you  think  of  the  situation?" 

Green  looked  at  him  surlily.     "You  belong  here?" 

"No,  I'm  just  a  visitor." 

"Well,  you  better  get  out  quick  as  God  '11  let  ye." 

"  Why,  what  is  going  to  happen?" 

"  Just  this  :  we're  goin'  to  have  the  man  that  killed 
Cole  or  we'll  cut  this  whole  tribe  into  strips.  That's 
all,"  and  they  moved  on,  cursing  afresh. 

Parker  fell  back  aghast,  and  watched  them  in 
silence  as  they  saddled  their  horses  and  rode  off.  He 
then  hurried  to  the  office.  Wilson,  after  going  in  to 
see  his  chief,  came  back  to  say:  "The  Major  will 
see  you  in  a  moment.  He's  sending  out  his  police." 

A  few  moments  afterwards  six  of  the  Indian  police- 
men came  filing  out,  looking  tense  and  grave,  and  a 
couple  of  minutes  later  Curtis  appeared. 

"What  is  it,  Parker?" 

"  What  is  going  on,  Captain?    I  am  very  anxious." 
237 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"You  need  not  be.  We've  reached  a  compromise, 
Wait  a  moment  and  I  will  go  over  to  the  house  with 
you." 

When  he  reappeared,  Lawson  was  with  him.  Noth- 
ing was  said  till  they  were  well  in  the  middle  of  the 
road.  Then  Curtis  remarked,  carelessly : 

"  You  attended  to  that  matter,  Lawson?" 

"Yes,  Crane's  Voice  is  ten  miles  on  his  wray." 

"There  go  two  dangerous  messengers,"  said  Cur- 
tis, lifting  his  eyes  to  the  hill-side,  up  which  the  sullen 
deputies  were  climbing. 

Parker  was  importunate — he  wished  to  understand 
the  whole  matter.  Curtis  became  a  little  impatient. 
"I  will  explain  presently,"  he  replied,  and  nothing 
more  was  said  till  they  entered  the  library,  which 
was  filled  with  the  women  of  the  agency.  Jennie 
had  reassured  them  as  best  she  could,  but  they  were 
eager  to  see  the  agent  himself.  Miss  Colson,  the 
kindergarten  teacher,  was  disposed  to  rush  into  his 
arms. 

Curtis  smiled  round  upon  them.  "  What's  all  this 
— a  council  of  war?" 

Miss  Colson  seized  the  dramatic  moment.  "Oh, 
Major,  are  we  in  danger?  Tell  us  what  has  hap- 
pened." 

"Nothing  much  has  happened  since  dinner.  I 
have  persuaded  the  sheriff  to  discharge  all  his  depu- 
ties except  Calvin,  and  they  are  to  remain  over.  I 
have  sent  for  the  head  man  to  come  in,  and  we  are 
going  to  council  to-night.  The  trouble  is  practically 
over,  for  the  sheriff  has  given  up  the  attempt  to  arrest 
Elk  as  a  hostage.  Now  go  back  to  your  work,  all  of 
you.  You  should  not  have  left  your  children/'  he 

238 


IN  STORMY   COUNCILS 

added,  rather  sternly,  to  Miss  Colson,  "  They  need 
you  now/' 

The  women  went  out  at  once,  and  in  a  few  min- 
utes Curtis  was  alone  with  the  members  of  his  own 
little  circle.  "Now  I  have  another  story  for  you/' 
he  said,  turning  to  Elsie.  "While  I  am  sure  the 
worst  of  the  sheriff's  work  is  over,  I  realize  that  there 
are  two  hundred  armed  men  over  on  the  Willow,  and 
that  it  is  better  to  be  on  the  safe  side.  Therefore  I 
have  sent  to  Fort  Lincoln  for  troops.  Crane's  Voice 
will  reach  there  by  sundown — the  troops  should  ar- 
rive here  by  sunrise  to-morrow.  Meanwhile  I  will 
talk  with  Elk—" 

"Suppose  Elk  don't  come?"  asked  Jennie. 

Curtis  looked  grave.  "In  that  case  I  shall  go  to 
find  him/' 

Elsie  cried  out,  "You  wouldn't  do  that?" 

"Yes,  it  would  be  my  duty — I  have  promised — 
but  he  will  come.  He  trusts  me.  I  have  ordered 
him  to  bring  all  his  people  and  camp  as  usual  just 
above  the  agency  store.  Now,  of  course,  no  one  can 
tell  the  precise  outcome  of  all  this,  and  if  you,  Miss 
Brisbane,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Parker,  want  to  go  down 
to  the  white  settlement,  I  will  send  you  at  once.  Mr. 
Lawson  will  go  with  you,  or  I  will  ask  the  sheriff  to 
take  you — " 

"  The  safest  place  on  the  reservation  is  right  here!" 
said  Lawson.  "Suppose  the  ranchers  return — they 
will  take  control  here,  and  use  the  agency  as  a  base 
of  supplies;  the  fighting  will  take  place  in  the  hills. 
Besides,  our  going  would  excite  the  settlers  uselessly, 
and  put  Captain  Curtis  deeper  into  trouble.  I  pro- 
pose that  we  stay  right  here,  and  convince  the  em- 

239 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

ployes  and  the  Indians  that  we  are  not  alarmed.  1 
don't  want  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  a  panic, 
and  our  going  this  afternoon  might  precipitate  one." 

Curtis  was  profoundly  grateful  to  Lawson  for  this 
firm  statement.  "I  think  you  are  right,  Mr.  Law- 
son/'  he  said,  formally.  "  You  see  my  position  clear- 
ly. I  feel  sure  I  can  control  the  sheriff  by  peaceable 
means  —  and  yet  my  responsibility  to  you  weighs 
upon  me."  He  looked  at  Elsie  again.  "  I  think  you 
can  trust  me.  Will  you  stay?" 

"Of  course  we  will  stay/'  she  replied,  and  Parker 
sank  into  his  chair  as  if  resigned  to  his  fate. 

Curtis  went  on:  "I  am  not  speaking  to  reassure 
myself.  Perhaps  I  am  too  positive,  but  my  experi- 
ence as  an  officer  in  the  army  has  given  me  a  con- 
tempt for  these  six-shooter  heroes.  The  thing  I 
really  fear  is  a  panic  among  the  settlers.  Naturally, 
I  am  disinclined  towards  the  notoriety  I  would  gain  in 
the  press;  but  the  troops  will  certainly  be  here  to- 
morrow, and  that  will  settle  the  turmoil.  The  sheriff 
is  less  of  an  embarrassment,  now  that  he  has  only 
Calvin  as  deputy." 

"  Send  the  sheriff  over  here — we'll  entertain  him  by 
showing  him  the  photograph  album,"  called  Jennie. 
"We  helped  out  this  forenoon,  and  we  can  do  it 
again." 

"  I  don't  think  such  heroic  methods  are  necessary ; 
an  extra  good  dinner  will  do  quite  as  well,"  replied 
Curtis,  smiling.  "I'm  sorry,  Mr.  Parker,  that  your 
expedition  for  material  is  coming  to  this  grewsome 
end." 

Elsie  interposed.  "  It  is  precisely  what  he  wants  ; 
he  will  know  from  positive  knowledge  how  a  Tetong 

240 


IN  STORMY  COUNCILS 

brave  dresses  for  war.  I  have  always  claimed  that 
no  Indian  ever  wore  that  absurd  war-bonnet/' 

Lawson  added :  "  And  you  will  gain  valuable  in- 
formation as  to  the  character  of  white  settlers  and 
'  Indian  outbreaks. ' ' 

"  I  ought  to  telegraph  papa." 

"I  have  already  done  so/'  replied  Lawson  —  "in 
anticipation  of  the  hullabaloo  that  will  break  forth 
in  the  papers  of  the  State  to-morrow." 

"I  shall  wire  the  department  a  full  statement  to- 
night/' said  Curtis.  "But  we  must  be  careful  what 
we  say  at  this  point/' 

"Isn't  it  a  foolish  thing  not  to  have  a  telegraph 
line  connecting  the  fort  and  the  agency?"  cried 
Jennie.  "  The  troops  could  have  been  half-way  here 
by  this  time/' 

"  It's  the  same  penny-wise  and  pound-foolish  meth- 
od by  which  the  Indian  service  is  run/'  responded 
Lawson. 

"  Here  comes  one  of  my  scouts/'  said  Curtis,  as  a 
young  Tetong  galloped  up  to  the  gate,  threw  him- 
self from  his  reeking  pony,  and  strode  into  the  hall- 
way without  knocking,  his  spurs  clattering,  his  quirt 
dangling  from  his  wrist.  As  he  stood  before  his 
chief,  delivering  his  message  with  shadowy  silence 
and  swiftness,  Elsie  thrilled  with  the  dramatic  sig- 
nificance of  the  scene.  The  stern,  almost  haughty 
face  of  the  young  man  was  in  keeping  with  his 
duties. 

Curtis  dismissed  the  boy  and  translated  his  mes- 
sage. "  He  says  the  settlers  below  us  have  fled  tow- 
ards Pinon  City,  taking  all  their  goods  with  them. 
White  Wolf's  band  are  all  in  camp  except  the  young 
16  241 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

men,  who  are  scouting  for  the  chiefs  to  see  what  it 
all  means.  That  mob  of  cowboys  took  delight,  no 
ioubt,  in  scattering  consternation  as  they  passed 
The  settlers  are  in  stampede." 

"  Wilson  is  coming  across  the  street/'  said  Jennie, 

and  has  an  Indian  with  him." 

"  Another  scout/'  said  Curtis.  "  Now  I  will  let  you 
know  all  that  goes  on,  but  I  must  ask  you  all,  ex- 
cept Mr.  Lawson,  to  leave  me  the  library  to  transact 
this  business  in."  As  Elsie  passed  him,  she  drew 
towards  him  with  a  little,  shrinking  movement  which 
moved  him  deeply.  It  was  as  though  she  were 
clutched  by  a  force  greater  than  her  will. 

"It's  like  being  at  army  headquarters/'  she  said 
to  Jennie. 

"  It  is  a  little  like  a  commander's  tent  in  the  field. 
I  wish  we  dared  to  throw  that  old  sheriff  off  the 
reservation.  He  has  no  right  to  be  snooping  round 
here." 

Parker  slumped  deep  in  a  big  rocker,  and  Mrs. 
Parker  sat  beside  him  and  put  her  hand  on  his  arm. 

"  Don't  worry  about  me,  Jerome." 

He  looked  up  gloomily.  "I  got  you  into  this, 
dearest,  and  I  must  get  you  out.  If  the  soldiers  come 
to-morrow  I  will  ask  for  an  escort  to  the  fort,  and  then 
we  can  reach  the  railway  and  get  out  of  the  cursed 
country.  I'd  as  soon  live  in  a  den  of  hyenas  and 
rattlesnakes." 

Elsie  laughed.  "Parker,  you  are  too  amusing. 
You  are  pathetic.  When  I  think  of  you  as  you  pranced 
about  the  camp-fire  two  days  ago  and  look  upon  you 
now,  my  heart  aches  for  you." 

"  I  don't  think  it  generous  of  you  to  make  fun  of  us 
242 


IN   STORMY  COUNCILS 

at  this  time,  Bee  Bee/'  Mrs.  Parker  replied,  reproach- 
fully. 

"Oh,  let  her  go  on.  Her  Latin  Quarter  English 
doesn't  disturb  me/'  Parker  answered,  savagely. 

Curtis  at  this  moment  appeared.  "My  message 
was  from  the  farmer  at  Willow  Spring.  He  says  all 
his  employes,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  have  dis- 
appeared ;  that  the  band  of  Crawling  Elk  was  threat- 
ened by  a  mob  of  white  men  early  this  morning,  a'nd 
that  they  are  all  breaking  camp  in  order  to  flee  to  the 
hills.  All  the  settlers  on  the  Willow  are  hurrying 
their  women  and  children  down  towards  Pinon  City. 
The  whole  country  has  been  alarmed  by  the  menace 
of  the  coroner's  inquest,  which  is  camped  below  the 
agency  at  Johnson's  ranch,  waiting  the  sheriff's  re- 
turn. The  deputies  had  not  reached  there  when  this 
letter  was  written,"  added  Curtis.  '  The  sheriff's 
message  will  disperse  the  crowds,  and  I  am  sending 
a  note  of  reassurance  to  the  farmers  and  to  the  set- 
tlers." 

"It's  getting  mighty  serious,  don't  you  think  so?" 
asked  Parker.  "  I  wish  the  troops  were  here.  Can't 
we  hurry  them  up?" 

"No,  all  that  can  be  done  has  been  done.  I  am 
telling  you  all  that  goes  on,  and  I  must  request  you 
not  to  repeat  it.  I  wish  you  would  all  be  specially 
guarded  in  the  presence  of  the  sheriff.  You  might 
engage  him  in  a  game  of  '  cinch '  after  dinner.  Any- 
thing to  keep  him  out  of  my  way." 

"  We'll  absorb  him,"  said  Jennie. 

One  by  one  Curtis  called  in  his  most  trusted  em- 
ploye's, and,  quieting  their  fears,  put  them  to  their 
duties.  Special  policemen  were  uniformed  and  seut 

243 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

to  carry  messages  to  the  encampments  on  the  hills, 
asking  the  head  men  of  each  band  to  come  at  once 
to  the  agency  for  council,  and  to  order  their  people 
into  camp.  The  tranquillizing  effect  of  the  agent's 
bearing  made  itself  felt  immediately.  The  threads 
of  the  whole  tangle  were  soon  in  his  hands  and 
made  straight,  and  when  he  received  the  sheriff  at 
six  o'clock  he  was  confident  and  serene  of  bearing. 

Two  Horns  came  down  from  the  hills,  and  at  the 
agent's  order  gathered  his  band  close  around  his 
own  tepee  to  camp  until  the  trouble  was  ended.  To- 
gether they  made  a  tour  of  the  village,  and  Curtis 
made  it  plain  that  he  would  protect  them,  and  that 
no  more  armed  men  would  come  among  them  to  in- 
cite violence. 

"They  have  turned  back,  for  fear  of  the  Little 
Father  and  of  Washington,"  said  Two  Horns  to  the 
old  men,  and  they  were  glad  of  his  words. 

Curtis  was  by  no  means  at  ease.  As  he  recalled 
the  threats  of  the  cattlemen,  the  encroachments  of 
their  flocks,  the  vicious  assaults  made  on  Crow  Killer 
and  Yellow  Hand,  he  divined  a  growing  antagonism 
which  could  go  but  little  further  without  producing 
war.  His  mind  dwelt  on  the  hurrying  figure  of 
Crane's  Voice.  Much  depended  on  him.  He  saw 
him  as  he  faced  the  sentry.  "If  he  should  fail  to 
reach  the  Colonel!  But  he  will  not  fail,  and  troops 
will  be  instantly  despatched." 

From  these  considerations  he  turned  to  the  grow- 
ing trust  and  confidence  which  Elsie  was  displaying. 
That  movement  towards  him,  slight  as  it  was,  and 
the  softened  look  in  her  eyes,  quickened  his  breath 

244 


IN   STORMY  COUNCILS 

as  he  allowed  his  inward  self  to  muse  on  their  mean- 
ing.  She  was  looking  to  him  for  protection,  and  this 
attitude  was  not  only  new,  it  was  disturbing ;  and  the 
soldier  found  it  necessary  to  put  away  his  pipe  and 
fall  savagely  upon  some  work  to  keep  his  mind  from 
ranging  too  far  afield 


XXII 

A  COUNCIL  AT  NIGHT 

THE  sheriff  came  to  dinner  rather  shamefacedly, 
but  Calvin,  being  profoundly  pleased,  was  on 
his  very  best  behavior.  "This  being  deputy  suits 
me  to  the  ground/'  said  he  to  Wilson,  as  he  rose  in 
answer  to  the  call  to  dinner. 

As  they  were  crossing  the  road  he  said,  confiden- 
tially :  "  Now  see  here,  you  mustn't  talk  politics 
round  the  ladies  over  there,  sheriff/' 

"Politics?" 

"  You  know  what  T  mean.  You  keep  to  the  weather 
and  the  crops,  and  let  this  murder  case  alone  for  a 
minute  or  two,  or  I'll  bat  you  one  for  luck." 

Winters  took  this  threat  as  a  sign  of  their  good 
understanding,  and  remarked,  jocosely,  "  You  damn- 
ed young  cub,  I'd  break  you  in  two  for  a  leather 
cent." 

"That's  all  right,  but  what  I  say  goes,"  replied 
Calvin.  And  remembering  old  Joe  Streeter's  politi- 
cal pull,  the  sheriff  did  not  reply. 

Jennie  kept  the  talk  pleasantly  inconsequential 
during  dinner  by  a  cheery  tale  of  the  doings  of  a 
certain  Chinaman  she  had  once  tried  to  train  into 
a  cook,  and  Calvin,  laughing  heartily,  matched  her 
experience  with  that  of  his  mother  while  keeping 

246 


A  COUNCIL  AT  NIGHT 

house  in  Pinon  City  one  winter.     This  left  Elsie  to 
a  little  conversation  with  Curtis. 

"You  must  let  me  see  this  council  to-night/'  she 
said,  and  her  request  had  the  note  of  a  command. 

"I  know  how  you  feel/'  he  said,  "and  I  wish  I 
could  do  so;  but  I  can't  make  an  exception  in  your 
favor  without  offending  the  Parkers/' 

"Are  you  not  the  general?"  she  asked,  smilingly. 
"If  you  see  fit  to  invite  me  and  leave  them  out,  they 
can  only  complain.  I'm  going  to  stay  here  with 
Jennie,  anyhow." 

"  In  that  case  we  can  manage  it. " 

"Do  you  know  what  I  think?  You've  instigated 
this  whole  affair  to  convert  me  to  your  point  of  view. 
Really,  the  whole  thing  is  like  a  play.  I'm  not  a 
bit  frightened — at  least,  not  yet  It's  precisely  like 
sitting  in  a  private  box  and  seeing  the  wolves  tear 
holes  in  Davy  Crockett's  cabin.  You  are  the  man- 
ager of  the  show." 

"Well,  why  not?  When  the  princess  tours  the 
provinces  it  is  customary  to  present  historical  pa- 
geants in  her  honor.  This  drama  is  your  due." 
And  as  he  spoke  he  observed  for  the  first  time  the 
absence  of  the  ring  from  her  significant  finger.  The 
shock  threw  him  into  a  moment's  swift  surmise, 
and  when  he  looked  up  at  her  she  was  flushed  and 
uneasy.  She  recovered  herself  first,  and  though 
her  hand  remained  on  the  table  it  had  the  tremulous 
action  of  a  frightened  small  animal — observed  yet 
daring  not  to  seek  cover. 

"I  hope  this  council  to-night  will  not  fail.  I  am 
eager  to  see  what  you  will  do  with  them,"  she  hast- 
ened to  say. 

247 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"They  will  come!"  he  replied. 

Calvin  was  relating  a  story  of  a  mountain-lion  he 
had  once  treed  for  an  Eastern  artist  to  photograph. 

"Just  then  the  dern  brute  jumped  right  plum  onto 
the  feller  and  knocked  him  down,  machine  and  all ; 
for  a  minute  or  two  it  was  just  a  mixture  o'  man 
and  lion,  then  that  feller  come  up  top,  and  the  next 
thing  I  seen  he  batted  the  lion  with  his  box,  and  that 
kind  o'  stunted  the  brute,  and  he  hit  him  again  and 
glass  began  to  fly ;  he  was  game  all  right,  that  feller 
was.  When  the  lion  stiffened  out,  he  turned  to  where 
I  was  a-rollin'  on  the  pine-needles,  and  says,  quiet-like, 
'Give  me  your  revolver,  please/  I  give  it  to  him,  and 
he  put  it  to  the  lion's  ear  and  finished  him.  When 
he  got  up  and  looked  at  his  machine  he  says,  'How 
much  is  a  mountain  -  lion  skin  worth?'  "Bout  four 
dollars,  green/  I  says.  He  looked  at  the  inwards  of 
his  box,  which  was  scattered  all  over  the  ground. 
Says  he,  'You  wouldn't  call  that  profitable,  would 
you — a  seventy-dollar  instrument  in  exchange  for  a 
four-dollar  pelt?" 

Everybody  laughed  at  this  story,  and  the  dinner 
came  to  an  end  with  the  sheriff  in  excellent  temper. 
Lawson  offered  cigars,  and  tolled  him  across  the  road 
to  the  office,  leaving  Curtis  alone  in  his  library. 

He  resolutely  set  to  work  to  present  the  situation 
of  the  sheriff's  presence  concisely  to  the  department 
in  a  telegram,  and  was  still  at  work  upon  this  when 
Jennie  entered  the  room,  closed  the  curtains,  and  lit 
the  lamp. 

Elsie  came  in  a  little  later  to  say,  sympathetically: 

"Are  you  tired,  Captain  Curtis?" 

He  pushed  his  writing  away. 
248 


A  COUNCIL  AT  NIGHT 

"  Yes,  a  little.  The  worst  of  it  is,  I  keep  saying : 
//  so  and  so  happens,  then  I  must  do  thus  and  thus, 
and  that  is  the  hardest  work  in  the  world.  I  can 
deal  with  actual,  well-defined  conditions — even  riots 
and  mobs  —  but  fighting  suppositions  is  like  grap- 
pling with  ghosts/' 

"1  know  what  you  mean/'  she  replied,  quickly. 
"  But  I  want  to  ask  you — could  father  be  of  any  help 
if  I  telegraphed  him  to  come?" 

He  sat  up  very  straight  as  she  spoke,  but  did  not 
reply  till  he  turned  her  suggestion  over  in  his  mind. 
"No — at  least,  not  now.  What  troubles  me  is  this: 
the  local  papers  will  be  filled  with  scare-heads  to- 
morrow morning;  your  father  will  see  them,  and 
will  be  alarmed  about  you/' 

"I  will  wire  him  that  I  am  all  right/' 

"  You  must  do  that.  I  consider  you  are  perfectly 
safe,  but  at  the  same  time  your  father  will  think  you 
ought  not  to  be  here,  and  blame  me  for  allowing  you 
to  come  in ;  and,  worst  of  all,  he  will  wire  you  to  come 
out." 

"  Suppose  I  refuse  to  go,  would  that  be  the  best  of 
all?"  Her  face  was  distinctly  arch  of  line. 

His  heart  responded  to  her  lure,  but  'his  words  were 
measured  as  he  answered :  "  Sometimes  the  respon- 
sibility seems  too  great;  perhaps  you  would  better 
go.  It  will  be  hard  to  convince  him  that  you  are  not 
in  danger." 

She  sobered.     "  There  really  is  danger,  then?" 

"  Oh  yes,  so  long  as  these  settlers  are  in  their  pres- 
ent mood,  I  suppose  there  is.  Nothing  but  the  life 
of  an  '  Injun '  will  satisfy  them.  Their  hate  is  racial 
in  its  bitterness." 

249 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"You  think  I  ought  to  go,  then?" 

He  looked  at  her  with  eyes  that  were  wistful  and 
searching. 

"Yes.  It  is  a  sad  ending,  but  perhaps  Captain 
Maynard  will  be  here  to-morrow  with  a  troop  of  cav- 
alry, and — I — think  I  must  ask  him  to  escort  you  to 
the  railway." 

"  But  the  danger  will  be  over  then. " 

"  To  your  father  it  will  seem  to  be  intensifying." 

"I  will  not  go  on  that  account!  I  feel  that  the 
safest  place  will  be  right  here  with  you,  for  your 
people  love  you.  I  am  not  afraid  when  I  am  near 
you." 

Curtis  suddenly  realized  how  dangerously  sweet  it 
was  to  sit  in  his  own  library  with  Elsie  in  that  mood 
seated  opposite  him.  The  sound  of  a  tapping  on  the 
window  relieved  the  tension  of  the  moment. 

"Another  of  my  faithful  boys,"  he  said,  rising 
quickly.  Then,  turning  to  her  with  a  tenderness 
almost  solemn,  he  added :  "  Miss  Brisbane,  I  hope 
you  feel  that  if  danger  really  threatened  I  would  think 
of  you  first  of  all.  You  will  stay  with  Jennie  to- 
night?" 

"If  you  think  best,  but  we  want  to  know  all  that 
goes  on.  I  can't  bear  to  be  battened  down  like  pas- 
sengers in  a  storm  at  sea;  there  is  nothing  so  try- 
ing to  nerves.  I  want  to  be  on  deck  with  the  captain 
if  the  storm  breaks." 

"Very  well.  I  promise  not  to  leave  you  in  igno- 
rance," and,  raising  the  curtain,  he  signed  to  the  man 
without  to  enter.  It  was  Crow,  the  captain  of  the 
police,  a  short  man  with  a  good-humored  face,  now 
squared  with  serious  dignity. 

250 


A  COUNCIL  AT  NIGHT 

"Two  Dog  has  just  come  in  from  Willow  Creek/'' 
he  reported.  "  He  says  the  cattlemen  are  still  camped 
by  Johnson's  ranch.  They  all  held  a  council  this 
afternoon/' 

"Are  any  of  the  head  men  here?" 

"  Yes,  they  are  all  at  my  tepee.  They  want  to  see 
you  very  bad." 

"Tell  them  to  come  over  at  once;  the  council 
will  take  place  here.  I  want  you,  but  no  more 
of  the  police.  I  want  only  the  head  men  of  each 
band." 

After  the  officer  went  out  Curtis  moved  the  easy- 
chairs  to  the  back  of  the  room  and  set  plain  ones 
in  a  semicircular  row  at  the  front.  Hardly  was  he 
settled  when  Elk,  Grayman,  and  Two  Horns  entered 
the  room,  and,  after  formally  shaking  hands,  took 
the  seats  assigned  them.  Their  faces,  usually  smil- 
ing, were  grave,  and  Grayman's  brow  was  knotted 
with  lines  of  anxiety.  He  was  a  small  man,  with 
long,  brown  hair,  braided  and  adorned  with  tufts  of 
the  fine  feathers  which  grow  under  the  eagle's  wings. 
He  was  handsome  and  neatly  dressed,  the  direct 
antithesis  to  Crawling  Elk,  who  was  tall  and  slovenly, 
with  a  homely,  grandfatherly  face  deeply  seamed 
with  wrinkles,  a  face  that  would  be  recognized  as 
typical  of  his  race.  He  seemed  far  less  concerned 
than  some  of  the  others. 

Two  Horns,  also  quite  at  his  ease,  unrolled  his  pipe 
and  began  filling  it,  while  Curtis  resumed  his  writ- 
ing. 

Jennie,  looking  in  at  the  door,  recognized  the  chiefs, 
and  they  all  rose  politely  to  greet  her. 

"  I'm  coming  to  the  council,"  she  said  to  Two  Horns. 
251 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

He  smiled.     "Squaws  no  come  council— no  good." 

"  No,  no,  heap  good/'  she  replied.  "  We  come. 
Chiefs  heap  talk — we  catchim  coffee." 

"Good,  good!"  he  replied.     "After  council,  feast." 

One  by  one  the  other  chiefs  slipped  in  and  took 
their  places,  till  all  the  bands  were  represented  save 
that  of  Red  Wolf,  who  was  too  far  away  to  be  reached. 
Curtis  then  sent  for  the  sheriff  and  Calvin  and  Elsie 
and  Lawson,  and  when  all  were  seated  began  his  talk 
by  addressing  the  chieftains.  He  spoke  in  English, 
in  order  that  the  sheriff  could  hear  all  that  was  said, 
and  Lawson  interpreted  it  into  Sioux. 

"  You  know  this  young  man  " — he  pointed  at  Cal- 
vin. "  Some  of  you  know  this  man  " — he  touched  the 
sheriff.  "He  is  the  war  chief  of  all  the  country  be- 
yond where  Gray  man  lives.  He  comes  to  tell  us  that 
a  herder  has  been  killed  over  by  the  Muddy  Spring. 
He  thinks  it  was  done  by  an  Indian.  The  white  peo- 
ple are  very  angry,  and  they  say  that  you  must  find 
the  murderer.  Do  you  know  of  any  one  who  has 
threatened  to  do  this  thing?" 

One  by  one  the  chiefs  replied :  "  I  do  not  know  who 
did  this  thing.  I  have  heard  no  one  speak  of  it  as  a 
thing  good  to  be  done.  We  are  all  sad." 

Two  Horns  added  a  protest.  "  I  think  it  hard  that 
a  whole  tribe  should  suffer  because  the  white  man 
thinks  one  redman  has  done  a  wrong  thing." 

Grayman  spoke  sadly:  "My  people  have  had 
much  trouble  because  the  cattlemen  want  to  drive 
their  herds  up  the  Willow,  and  we  are  like  men  who 
guard  the  door.  On  us  the  trouble  falls.  It  is  our 
duty — the  same  as  you  should  say  to  a  policeman, 
'  Do  not  let  anybody  come  in  my  house. '  Therefore 

252 


A  COUNCIL  AT  NIGHT 

we  have  been  accused  of  killing  the  cattle  and  steal- 
ing things.  But  this  is  not  true.  I  remembered 
your  words,  and  I  did  nothing  to  make  these  people 
angry;  but  some  of  my  young  men  threw  stones  to 
drive  the  sheep  back,  and  then  the  herder  fired  at 
them  with  revolver.  This  was  not  our  fault/' 

"He  lies!"  said  the  sheriff,  hotly,  when  this  was 
interpreted.  "No  one  has  fired  a  gun  but  his  reck- 
less young  devils.  His  men  were  riding  down  the 
sheep,  and  the  herder  rocked  'em  away." 

"You  admit  the  sheep  were  on  the  reservation, 
then?"  asked  Curtis. 

"Well — yes — temporarily.  They  were  being  wa- 
tered." 

"Well,  we  won't  go  into  that  now/'  said  Curtis, 
turning  to  the  chiefs  and  speaking  with  great  solem- 
nity, using  the  sign  -  language  at  times.  And  as 
he  sat  thus  fronting  the  strongly  wrought,  serious 
faces  of  his  head  men  he  was  wholly  admirable,  and 
Elsie's  blood  thrilled  with  excitement,  for  she  felt 
herself  to  be  in  the  presence  of  primeval  men. 

"Now,  Grayman,  Elk,  Two  Horns,  Standing  Elk, 
Lone  Man,  and  Crow,  listen  to  me.  Among  white 
men  it  is  the  law  that  when  any  one  has  done  a  wrong 
thing — when  he  steals  or  murders — he  is  punished. 
If  he  kills  a  man  he  is  slain  by  the  chief,  not  by  the 
relatives  of  the  man  who  is  slain.  As  with  you,  I 
am  here  to  apply  the  white  man's  rule.  If  a  Tetong 
has  shot  this  herder  he  must  suffer  for  it — he  and  no 
one  else.  I  will  not  permit  the  cattlemen  to  punish 
the  tribe.  If  you  know  who  did  this,  it  is  your  duty 
to  give  him  up  to  the  law.  It  is  the  command  of  the 
Great  Father — he  asks  you  to  go  back  to  your  people 

253 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

and  search  hard  to  find  who  killed  this  white  man. 
When  you  find  him  bring  him  to  me.  Will  you  do 
this?" 

No  one  answered  but  Two  Horns,  who  said,  "  Ay, 
we  will  do  as  you  say/'  and  his  solemnity  of  utterance 
attested  his  sincerity. 

"  Listen  to  me/'  said  Curtis  again,  fixing  their  eyes 
with  his  dramatic  action.  "  If  my  only  brother  had 
done  this  thing,  I  would  give  him  up  to  be  punished. 
I  would  not  hesitate,  and  I  expect  you  to  do  the  same." 

"  It  is  always  thus/'  Standing  Elk  broke  out.  "  The 
cattlemen  wish  to  punish  all  redmen  for  what  one 
bad  young  warrior  does.  We  are  weary  of  it." 

"  I  know  it  has  been  so,  but  it  shall  not  be  so  again, 
not  while  I  am  your  chief/'  Curtis  responded.  "  Will 
you  go  home  and  do  as  I  have  commanded?  Will 
you  search  hard  and  bring  me  word  what  you  dis- 
cover?" 

One  by  one  they  muttered,  "Ay!"  and  Curtis  add- 
ed, heartily:  "That  is  good — now  you  may  go." 

"  I  want  to  say  a  word,"  said  the  sheriff. 

"Not  now,"  replied  Curtis.  "These  people  are  in 
my  charge.  Whatever  is  said  to  them  I  will  say/' 
and  at  his  gesture  they  rose,  and  Crow,  Standing 
Elk,  and  Lone  Man  went  soberly  out  into  the  night. 

Grayman  approached  Curtis  and  took  his  hand 
in  both  of  his  and  pressed  it  to  his  breast.  "Little 
Father,  I  have  heard  your  words;  they  are  not  easy 
to  follow,  but  they  have  entered  my  heart.  No 
white  man  has  ever  spoken  to  me  with  your  tongue. 
You  do  not  lie;  your  words  are  soft,  but  they  stand 
like  rocks — they  do  not  melt  away.  My  words  shall 
be  like  yours — they  will  not  vanish  like  smoke.  What 

254 


A  COUNCIL  AT  NIGHT 

I  have  promised,  that  I  will  fulfil."  As  he  spoke 
his  slight  frame  trembled  with  the  intensity  of  his 
emotion,  and  his  eyes  were  dim  with  tears,  and  his 
deep,  sweet  voice,  accompanying  his  gestures,  thrilled 
every  soul  in  the  room.  At  the  end  he  dropped  the 
agent's  hand  and  hastened  from  the  house  like  one 
afraid  of  himself. 

Curtis  turned  to  Lawson  to  hide  his  own  emotion. 
"Mr.  Lawson,  I  assume  the  sheriff  is  as  tired  as  the 
rest  of  us ;  will  you  show  him  the  bed  you  were  kind 
enough  to  offer  ?" 

"Sheriff  Winters,  if  you  will  come  with  me  I'll 
pilot  you  to  a  couch.  It  isn't  downy,  but  it  will  rest 
a  tired  man.  Calvin,  you  are  to  bunk  alongside." 

"All  right,  professor."  Calvin  rose  reluctantly, 
and  as  he  stood  in  the  door  he  said,  in  a  low  voice,  to 
Jennie,  "Now  if  you  want  me  any  time  just  send 
forme." 

"Hold  the  sheriff  level — that's  what  you  do  for  us." 

"I'll  see  that  he  don't  get  gay,"  he  replied,  and 
his  hearty  confidence  did  them  all  good. 

After  the  sheriff  and  his  deputy  went  out,  Elsie  said  : 
"Oh,  it  was  wonderful!  That  old  man  who  spoke 
last  must  be  the  Edwin  Booth  of  the  tribe.  He  was 
superbly  dramatic." 

"He  took  my  words  very  deeply  to  he^art.  That 
was  Gray  man,  one  of  the  most  intelligent  of  all  my 
head  men;  but  he  has  had  a  great  deal  of  trouble. 
He  comprehends  all  too  much  of  the  tragedy  of  his 
situation." 

Elsie  sat  with  her  elbows  on  the  table,  gazing  in 
silence  towards  the  empty  fireplace.  She  looked 
weary  and  sad. 

255 


THE  CAPTAIN  OP  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

Curtis  checked  himself.  "I  regret  very  deeply  the 
worry  and  discomfort  all  this  brings  upon  you." 

"Oh,  I'm  not  thinking  of  myself  this  time,  I  am 
thinking  of  the  hopeless  task  you  have  set  yourself. 
You  can't  solve  this  racial  question — it's  too  big  and 
too  complicated.  Men  are  simply  a  kind  of  ferocious 
beast.  They  go  to  work  killing  each  other  the  way 
chickens  eat  grasshoppers." 

"Your  figure  is  wrong.  If  our  Christian  settlers 
only  killed  Indians  to  fill  their  stomachs  they'd  stop 
some  time;  but  they  kill  them  because  they're  like 
the  boy  about  his  mother — tired  of  seeing  'em  'round." 

There  was  a  time  when  Elsie's  jests  were  frankly 
on  the  side  of  the  strong  against  the  weak,  but  she 
was  becoming  oppressed  with  the  suffering  involved 
in  the  march  of  civilization.  "  What  a  fine  face  Gray- 
man  has;  I  couldn't  help  thinking  how  much  more 
refined  it  was  than  Winters!  As  for  the  cowboys, 
they  were  hulking  school-boys ;  I  was  not  a  bit  afraid 
of  them  after  they  were  dismounted." 

"  Unfortunately  they  are  a  kind  of  six-footed  beast, 
always  mounted;  there  isn't  a  true  frontiersman 
among  them.  It  angered  me  that  they  had  the  op- 
portunity to  even  look  at  you." 

His  intensity  of  gaze  and  the  bitterness  of  his  voice 
took  away  }ier  breath  for  an  instant,  and  before  she 
could  reply  Jennie  and  Lawson  came  in. 

Lawson  was  smiling.  "Parker  is  righteously 
incensed.  He  tried  to  enter  the  council  an  hour  ago 
and  your  dusky  minions  stopped  him.  He  is  gen- 
uinely alarmed  now,  and  only  waiting  for  daylight 
to  take  flight." 

"Jerome  is  a  goose,"  said  Elsie. 

256 


A   COUNCIL  AT   NIGHT 

"He's  a  jackass  at  times.  A  man  of  talent,  but 
a  bore  when  his  yellow  streak  comes  out."  Turning 
to  Curtis  he  said,  very  seriously,  "  Is  there  anything 
I  can  do  for  you,  Captain?" 

"  You  might  wire  your  version  of  the  disturbance 
to  the  Secretary  along  with  mine.  We  can  safely 
look  for  an  avalanche  of  newspaper  criticism,  and  I 
would  like  to  anticipate  their  outbreak." 

"Our  telegrams  will  be  at  once  made  public — " 

"Undoubtedly,  and  for  that  reason  we  must  use 
great  care  in  their  composition.  I  have  mine  written ; 
please  look  it  over." 

Jennie,  who  had  dropped  into  a  chair,  checked  a 
yawn.  "Oh,  dear;  I  wish  it  were  morning." 

Curtis  looked  at  her  and  laughed.  "I  think  you 
girls  would  better  go  to  bed.  Your  eyes  are  heavy- 
lidded  with  weariness." 

"Aren't  you  going  to  sleep?"  asked  Jennie,  anx- 
iously. 

"  I  shall  lie  down  here  on  the  sofa — I  must  be  where 
I  can  hear  a  tap  on  the  window.  Good-night." 

Both  girls  rose  at  his  word,  and  Elsie  said:  "It 
seems  cruel  that  you  cannot  go  properly  to  bed — 
after  such  a  wearisome  day." 

"You  forget  that  I  am  a  soldier,"  he  said,  and 
saluted  as  they  passed.  He  observed  that  Lawson 
merely  bowed  when  she  said  "Good-night"  politely. 
Surely  some  change  had  come  to  their  relationship. 

Lawson  turned.  "I  think  I  will  turn  in,  Captain; 
I  have  endorsed  the  telegram." 

" It  must  go  at  once."  He  tapped  on  the  pane,  and 
almost  instantly  a  Tetong,  sleeping  under  the  window, 
rose  from  his  blanket  and  stood  with  his  face  to  the 
»  257 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

window,  alert  and  keen-eyed.  "  Tony,  I  have  a  long 
ride  for  you." 

"All  right/'  replied  the  faithful  fellow,  cheerfully. 

"I  want  you  to  take  some  letters  to  Pinon  City. 
Come  round  to  the  door/' 

As  he  stepped  into  the  light  the  messenger  appeared 
to  be  a  boy  of  twenty,  black-eyed  and  yellow-skinned, 
with  thin  and  sensitive  lips.  "Take  the  letters  to 
the  post-office/'  said  Curtis,  speaking  slowly.  "  You 
understand — and  these  despatches  to  the  telegraph- 
office/' 

"Pay  money?" 

"  No  pay.     Can  you  go  now?" 

"  Yes,  go  now." 

"  Very  well,  take  the  best  pony  in  the  corral.  You 
better  keep  the  trail  and  avoid  the  ranches.  Good- 
night." 

The  young  fellow  put  the  letters  away  in  the  inside 
pocket  of  his  blue  coat,  buttoned  it  tightly,  and  slipped 
out  into  the  night,  and  was  swallowed  up  by  the 
moonless  darkness. 

"  Aren't  you  afraid  they  will  do  Tony  harm  if  they 
meet  him?" 

"Not  in  his  uniform." 

"  I  wouldn't  want  that  ride.  Well,  so  long,  old 
man.  Call  me  if  I  can  be  of  any  use." 

After  Lawson  went  out  Curtis  sank  back  into  his 
big  chair  and  closed  his  eyes  in  deep  thought.  As 
he  forecast  the  enormous  and  tragic  results  of  the 
return  of  that  armed  throng  of  reckless  cattlemen 
he  shuddered.  A  war  would  almost  destroy  the 
Tetongs.  It  would  nullify  all  he  had  been  trying 
to  do  for  them,  and  would  array  the  whole  State, 

258 


A  COUNCIL  AT  NIGHT 

the  whole  Indian-hating  population  of  the  nation, 
against  them.  Jennie  re-entered  softly  and  stood 
by  his  side.  "It's  worrisome  business  being  Indian 
agent,  after  all,  isn't  it,  George?"  she  said,  with 
her  hand  in  his  hair. 

He  forced  himself  to  a  cheerful  tone  of  voice.  "  Oh, 
I  don't  know ;  this  is  our  first  worry,  and  it  will  soon 
be  over.  It  looks  bad  just  now,  but  it  will  be — " 

A  knock  at  the  outer  door  startled  them  both. 
"  That  is  a  white  man — probably  Barker/'  he  said, 
and  called,  "Come  in." 

Calvin  Streeter  entered,  a  little  abashed  at  seeing 
Jennie.  Meeting  Curtis's  look  of  inquiry,  he  said, 
with  winning  candor,  "  Major,  I  been  a  -  studyin'  on 
this  thing  a  good  'eal,  and  I've  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  you're  right  on  all  these  counts,  and  I've  con- 
cluded to  ride  over  the  hill  and  see  if  I  can't  argue 
the  boys  out  of  their  notion  to  kill  somebody." 

Jennie  clapped  her  hands.  "Good!  That  is  a 
splendid  resolution.  I  always  knew  you  meant 
right." 

Curtis  held  out  his  hand.  "  Shake  hands,  my  boy. 
There  isn't  a  moment  to  be  lost.  If  they  are  coming 
at  all,  they  will  start  about  sunrise.  I  hope  they 
have  reconsidered  the  matter  and  broken  camp." 

Calvin  looked  a  little  uneasy.  "Well,  I'll  tell  ye, 
Major,  I'm  afraid  them  lahees  that  we  sent  back  home 
will  egg  the  rest  on;  they  sure  were  bilun  mad,  but 
I'll  go  and  do  what  I  can  to  head  'em  off.  If  I  can't 
delay  'em,  I'll  come  along  with  'em,  but  you  can 
count  on  me  to  do  any  little  job  that  '11  help  you 
after  we  get  here.  Good-night." 

^Good-night.     Don't  take  any  rest," 
259 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"  Oh,  I'm  all  right.  Nobody  ain't  huntin'  trouble 
with  me." 

After  he  went  out  Jennie  said:  "I  call  that  the 
grace  of  God  working  in  the  soul  of  man." 

Curtis  looked  at  her  keenly.  "I  call  it  the  love 
of  woman  sanctifying  the  heart  of  a  cowboy." 

She  colored  a  little.  "  Do  we  women  go  on  the  pay- 
rolls as  assistant  agents?" 

"  Not  if  we  men  can  prevent  it.  What  kind  of  a 
report  would  it  make  if  I  were  forced  to  say,  'At  this 
critical  moment  the  charming  Miss  So-and-so  came 
to  my  aid,  and,  by  inviting  the  men  in  to  dinner  with 
a  sweet  smile,  completely  disarmed  their  hostility. 
Too  much  honor  cannot  be  given/  etc." 

"I  guess  if  history  were  written  by  women  once 
in  a  while  those  reports  wouldn't  be  so  rare  as  they 


XXIII 

THE  RETURN  OF  THE  MOB 

URTIS  was  awakened  about  four  o'clock  by  Wil- 
son  at  his  window.  "  Are  you  awake,  Major?" 

"Yes;  what  is  it?" 

"Two  of  the  scouts  have  just  come  in  from  the 
hills.  They  are  sure  the  ranchers  are  coming  to 
make  war.  Bands  of  white  men  are  crossing  the 
county  to  join  the  camp.  It  certainly  looks  owly, 
Major." 

Curtis  rose  and  went  to  the  window.  "  The  troops 
will  be  here  by  nine  o'clock  at  the  furthest,  and  the 
mob  will  not  move  till  sunrise,  and  can't  reach  here, 
even  by  hard  riding,  before  eleven." 

"  Shall  I  send  a  courier  out  to  meet  the  troops  and 
hurry  them  on?"  asked  Wilson,  whose  voice  was 
untouched  of  fear. 

"It  might  be  well.  Send  Two  Horns  to  me  if  you 
can  find  him.  Keep  silent  as  to  these  reports." 

"All  right,  Major." 

Curtis  did  not  underestimate  the  dangers  of  the 
situation.  If  the  troops  did  not  arrive,  and  if  the 
armed  posse  of  the  settlers  should  come  and  attempt 
to  arrest  Elk,  war  would  follow,  that  was  certain. 
Meanwhile  he  was  one  day's  hard  riding  from  either 
the  fort  or  the  telegraph  line,  with  the  settlers  be- 

261 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

tween,  and  no  news  could  reach  him  for  twenty-four 
hours. 

At  that  very  moment  the  morning  papers  were 
being  distributed  bearing  a  burden  of  calumny.  The 
department  would  open  his  telegram  in  a  few  min- 
utes, but  the  Secretary's  reply  could  not  reach  him 
before  sunset  at  the  earliest,  "  and  by  that  time  I  will 
be  master  of  the  situation  or  there  will  be  war.  I  must 
parley  —  delay  them,  by  any  means,  till  the  troops 
arrive.  Colonel  Daggett  will  forward  the  men  at  once 
—I  hope  under  Maynard  —  and  Jack  is  no  sluggard. 
He  will  be  here  if  only  the  Colonel  takes  action." 

The  sun  rose  as  usual  in  a  cloudless  sky,  but  the 
wind  was  again  in  the  northwest,  and  as  he  stood 
on  the  little  porch  looking  up  the  valley  he  could 
see  the  smoke  of  the  camp-fires  in  Grayman's  camp, 
and  beyond  him  the  Crawling  Elk  and  his  people 
occupied  a  larger  circle  of  shining  tepees.  The  twro 
villages  seemed  as  peaceful  as  if  the  people  were 
waiting  for  their  rations,  but  as  he  lifted  his  eyes 
to  the  hills  he  could  see  the  mounted  sentinels  pa- 
tiently waiting  the  coming  of  the  sun,  and  he  knew 
that  beyond  and  to  the  east  every  butte  was  similarly 
crested  with  spies.  These  people  of  the  wide  spaces 
had  their  own  signal  service  and  were  not  to  be  taken 
unawares.  Each  movement  of  the  enemy  would 
be  flashed  from  hill  to  hill,  miles  in  advance  of  the 
beat  of  their  horses'  hoofs. 

As  he  was  returning  to  his  library  Elsie  met  him. 
"Good-morning,  Captain.  Did  you  sleep?" 

"Oh  yes,  indeed!"  He  spoke  as  lightly  as  he 
could.  "  But  my  messengers  reporting  disturbed  me 
a  little  during  the  early  morning.' 

262 


THE  RETURN  OF  THE  MOB 

"With  bad  news?" 

"  Oh  no,  quite  the  contrary.  I  think  we  are  well 
out  of  our  difficulty/' 

"I'm  sure  I  hope  so.     You  look  tired." 

"  I'm  ashamed  of  it.  You  must  have  slept  well— 
you  are  radiant.  I  am  sorry  I  cannot  promise  you 
the  Elk  for  a  sitter  to-day." 

"I  like  him  better  as  the  leader  of  his  people.  Do 
we  breakfast  with  the  sheriff  this  morning?'' 

"That  affliction  is  bearing  down  upon  us/'  he 
replied.  "  He  is  even  now  moving  morosely  across 
the  road.  I  fear  he  is  in  bad  temper." 

"I  think  I  will  be  late  to  breakfast  in  that  case/' 
she  said,  with  a  little  grimace,  and  fled. 

Curtis  greeted  his  guest  pleasantly.  "Good-morn- 
ing, sheriff/' 

"  Good-morning,  Major.  Have  you  seen  anything 
of  my  deputy?" 

"No;  has  he  left  you?" 

"I  didn't  miss  him  till  this  morning,"  replied  Win- 
ters, sourly.  "But  he's  gone,  horse  and  all." 

"  Well,  the  loss  is  not  serious.  Come  in  and  break 
an  egg  with  me." 

Jennie  was  distinctly  less  cordial  than  before,  but 
she  made  her  unwelcome  guest  comfortable,  and  asked 
after  his  health  politely.  She  was  just  pouring  his 
second  cup  of  coffee  when  the  furious  clanging  of  the 
office  bell  made  them  all  start. 

Curtis  looked  at  his  watch.  "Good  Heavens!  It 
can't  be  the  eight -o'clock  bell.  What  time  have 
you?" 

"Seven  thirty-three." 

Curtis  sprang  up.     "It's  a  signal  of  fire!" 
263 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

At  the  word  "  fire  "  Jennie  turned  white  and  rose. 
Elsie  came  flying  down-stairs,  crying : 

"The  Indians  are  running!" 

A  wild  shout  arose,  "  Stop  that  bell \"  and  a  moment 
later  Wilson  burst  in  at  the  door — "Major,  the  Ind- 
ians are  signalling  from  the  buttes  —  everybody  is 
taking  to  the  hills — the  mob  is  coming/' 

Curtis  gave  Elsie  one  piercing  look.  "I  hope  you 
will  trust  me ;  you  are  in  no  danger,  even  if  this  alarm 
is  true.  I  think  it  is  a  mistake.  I  will  return  soon 
and  let  you  know.  I  beg  you  not  to  be  alarmed/' 

The  alarum  was  true.  On  the  buttes  horsemen  were 
riding  to  and  fro  excitedly  crossing  and  recrossing 
the  same  ground — the  sign  which  means  an  approach- 
ing enemy.  On  every  hill -side  mounted  warriors 
were  gathering  and  circling.  Boys  with  wild  halloos 
were  bringing  in  the  ponies.  The  women  busy, 
swarming  like  bees,  were  dropping  the  tepees;  even 
as  the  agent  mounted  the  steps  to  the  office  and  looked 
up  the  valley,  the  white  canvases  sank  to  the  ground 
one  by  one  as  though  melted  by  the  hot  sun.  War 
times  were  come  again,  and  the  chanting  cries  of  the 
old  women  came  pulsing  by  on  the  soft  west  wind. 

A  grim  smile  settled  on  the  agent's  lips  as  he  com- 
prehended these  preparations.  He  knew  the  history 
of  these  people  and  admired  them  for  their  skill  and 
their  bravery.  War  times  were  come  again! 

"Our  cowboy  friends  have  set  themselves  a  mem- 
orable task  in  trying  to  wipe  out  this  tribe.  The 
ranchers  never  fight  their  own  battles ;  they  always 
call  upon  the  federal  government;  and  that  is  their 
purpose  now,  to  stir  up  strife  and  leave  the  troops  to 
bear  the  burden  of  the  war/' 

264 


THE  RETURN   OF   THE  MOB 

"I  don't  see  our  fellers/'  said  the  sheriff,  who  was 
deeply  excited.  "I'll  ride  to  meet  them." 

"  They  are  a  long  way  off  yet/'  said  Curtis.  "  The 
Tetong  sentinels  have  only  signalled  their  start.  I 
hope  the  troops  are  on  the  way/'  he  said  to  the  two 
girls  who  had  followed  and  now  stood  close  beside 
him  as  if  for  protection.  Then  he  called  to  the  sheriff, 
who  had  started  for  his  horse:  "I  depend  on  you  to 
keep  off  this  invasion,  sheriff.  I  warn  you  and  your 
men  that  this  entrance  here  at  this  time  is  a  crime 
against  Washington." 

Winters  did  not  reply,  and  Curtis  knew  that  he 
would  join  the  majority;  being  a  candidate  for  re- 
election, he  could  not  afford  to  run  counter  to  the 
wishes  of  his  constituents.  Hastily  mounting  his 
horse,  he  galloped  furiously  away. 

Curtis  strained  his  eyes  down  the  valley,  hoping 
for  a  sight  of  the  guidons  of  the  — th. 

"What  can  you  do?"  asked  Elsie. 

"Nothing  but  await  the  issue,"  he  replied.  "I 
have  sent  another  courier  to  hasten  the  troops;  it  is 
now  a  race  between  the  forces  of  law  and  of  order.  If 
the  mob  arrives  first,  I  must  delay  them — prevent  their 
advance  if  possible.  There  is  nothing  else  to  be  done. " 

"Can  we  help?" 

"I'm  afraid  not.  There  will  be  two  or  three  hun- 
dred of  the  invaders  this  time,  if  the  sheriff  is  to  be 
believed.  I  am  afraid  to  have  you  meet  them.  I 
think  it  better  for  you  all  to  keep  within  doors." 

"I  wish  my  father  knew  —  he  could  stop  this!" 
wailed  Elsie,  in  sudden  realization  of  her  helplessness. 
"  He  could  wire  the  authorities  in  Pinon  City.  I  know 
they  would  listen  to  him." 

265 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"Here  come  the  Parkers!"  said  Jennie.  "Now 
look  out  for  squalls." 

"I  had  forgotten  them/'  said  Curtis,  with  a  comic 
look  of  dismay. 

Parker  was  running,  half  dragging  his  poor,  breath- 
less wife,  while  in  their  rear  Lawson  appeared,  walk- 
ing calmly,  quite  irreproachable  in  a  gray  morning 
suit,  and  the  sight  of  him  was  a  comfort  to  Curtis, 
for  his  forces  were  practically  reduced  to  Wilson  and 
four  or  five  clerks. 

"Now,  Captain,  what  are  you  going  to  do?"  called 
Parker.  "  You  let  us  into  this—" 

Being  in  no  mood  for  squalls,  Curtis  cut  Parker 
short.  "Be  quiet;  don't  be  uselessly  foolish.  Try 
and  conduct  yourself  like  a  reasonable  human  being. 
Jennie,  go  into  the  house,  and  take  the  ladies  with 
you.  You'll  have  all  the  women  of  the  agency  to 
look  after  in  a  few  minutes.  Lawson,  I  can  depend 
on  you — will  you  go  over  to  the  office  with  me?" 

When  they  reached  the  office  Lawson  threw  back 
his  coat  and  displayed  two  wicked-looking  revolvers. 
"I've  been  known  to  fight  when  pushed  too  far,"  he 
said,  smilingly. 

In  the  space  of  an  hour  the  panic  had  become  prep- 
aration. On  a  low  butte  to  the  southwest  a  dark 
mass  of  armed  and  resolute  warriors  waited  on  their 
swift  ponies  ready  for  whatever  came,  while  behind 
them  on  a  higher  ridge  a  smaller  group  of  dismounted 
chieftains  sat  in  council.  Up  the  slopes  below  and 
to  the  right  the  wromen  and  old  men  were  leading 
the  ponies,  laden  with  their  tepees,  children,  and  sup- 
plies, precisely  as  in  the  olden  times.  The  wagons  of 
the  white  men  were  of  no  use  where  they  were  now 


THE   RETURN  OF  THE   MOB 

climbing.     The  ways  of  the  wheel  were  no  longer 
desirable.     They  sought  the  shelter  of  the  trail. 

"  I  am  confident  that  the  troops  will  arrive  first/' 
said  Curtis. 

"  If  the  powers  of  evil  have  found  a  leader,  it  will 
be  hard  to  control  them  even  with  a  troop  of  cavalry/' 
Lawson  replied,  soberly.  "The  sheriff  will  go  with 
the  mob  when  it  comes  to  a  show  down." 

"  Oh,  of  course.  I  do  not  count  on  him ;  but  Calvin 
is  loyal." 

Before  the  office  stood  two  or  three  of  the  white 
employe's  of  the  agency  with  their  wives  and  children 
about  them.  Two  policemen  alone  remained  of  all 
the  throng  of  red  employe's  usually  to  be  seen  about 
the  yards ;  the  rest  were  out  on  duty  or  had  joined 
their  people  in  the  hills. 

"  What  shall  we  do?"  cried  Miss  Colson,  a  look  of 
mortal  terror  on  her  face.  She  crowded  close  to  Cur- 
tis and  laid  her  hands  on  his  arm.  "  Let  us  stay 
near  you." 

"You  are  in  no  danger,"  he  replied.  "Those  poor 
devils  on  the  hill-side  are  the  ones  who  will  suffer. 
Where  are  your  children?"  he  asked,  sharply. 

"They  all  disappeared  like  rabbits  at  sound  of 
the  bell;  only  the  kindergarten  class  remains." 

"Go  and  help  take  care  of  them,"  he  commanded. 
"  Sing  to  them — amuse  them.  Wolf  Robe,"  he  called 
to  one  of  the  policemen — he  of  the  bow -legs — "go 
to  the  people  on  the  hill  and  say  to  them  to  fear 
nothing,  Washington  protects  them.  Tell  them  they 
must  not  fight.  Say  to  the  mothers  of  the  little  ones 
that  nothing  shall  hurt  them.  Go  quick!" 

Wolf  Robe  handed  his  sombrero,  his  coat,  and  his 

267 


THE  CAPTAIN  OP  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

revolver  to  his  friend,  Beaver  Kill,  and  ran  away 
towards  the  corral,  agile  as  a  boy. 

"  What  did  he  do  that  for?"  asked  Jennie. 

Curtis  smiled.  "He  is  Indian  now;  he  doesn't 
want  to  be  mistaken  for  a  cowboy/' 

When  he  reappeared  on  his  pony,  his  long,  dark 
hair  streaming,  a  red  handkerchief  bound  about  his 
head,  he  looked  like  a  warrior  stripped  for  battle. 
"There  isn't  a  faithfuler  man  in  the  world/'  said 
Curtis,  and  a  lump  rose  in  his  throat.  "  He  has  been 
riding  half  the  night  for  me,  but  he  charges  that  hill 
as  if  he  were  playing  a  game." 

"I  don't  understand  how  you  can  trust  them  to 
do  such  things,"  said  Elsie.  "Perhaps  he  will  not 
come  back.  How  do  you  know  he  will  do  as  you 
commanded?" 

"Because  that  ugly  little  bow-legged  Tetong  is 
a  man!"  replied  Curtis.  "He  would  die  in  perform- 
ance of  his  duty."  And  something  in  his  voice  made 
the  tears  start  to  Elsie's  eyes. 

The  sentinels  on  the  hills  were  quiet  now — facing 
the  northeast,  motionless  as  weather-vanes.  The 
camps  had  disappeared  as  if  by  magic;  nothing  re- 
mained but  a  few  wagons.  Wolf  Robe,  diminishing 
to  the  value  of  a  coyote,  was  riding  straight  towards 
the  retreating  women.  Even  as  Curtis  watched,  the 
chieftains  on  the  higher  hill  rose,  and  one  of  them 
started  downward  towards  the  warriors  on  the 
rounded  hill -top.  Then  a  small  squad  detached 
itself  from  the  main  command  and  slid  down  the 
grassy  slope  to  meet  the  women.  As  they  rode  slow- 
ly on,  the  moving  figures  of  those  leading  the  camp 
horses  gathered  round  them.  Curtis  understood  some 

268 


THE  RETURN  OF  THE   MOB 

command  was  being  shouted  by  the  descending 
squad. 

Separating  themselves  from  the  led  ponies,  these 
scouts  swept  on  down  the  hill  directly  upon  the  soli- 
tary and  minute  figure  of  Wolf  Robe,  whose  pony 
climbed  slowly  and  in  zigzag  course. 

"  They  will  kill  him/'  said  a  woman. 

Wolf  Robe  halted  and  waited  till  the  skirmishers 
rode  up  to  him.  They  massed  round  him  closely, 
listening  while  he  delivered  his  message. 

"When  he  returns  we  will  know  all  that  his  peo- 
ple have  learned  of  the  invaders/'  said  Curtis.  "  They 
will  tell  him  what  they  have  seen/' 

"It  is  strange/'  exclaimed  Elsie,  in  a  low  voice, 
standing  close  beside  him.  "But  I'm  not  afraid. 
It  is  like  a  story  —  a  dream.  That  I  should  stand 
here  watching  Indians  preparing  for  war  and  wait- 
ing for  United  States  troops  is  incredible." 

"  I  wish  it  were  not  true,"  he  replied.  "  But  it  is. 
I  have  no  fear  of  my  people,  only  of  the  rash  act  of 
a  vicious  white  man." 

"  Which  way  will  the  cattlemen  come  from?"  asked 
Jennie. 

"Probably  down  that  trail."  He  pointed  to  the 
northeast.  "Part  of  them  may  come  up  the  valley 
road.  Wolf  Robe  has  started  on  his  return." 

The  little  squad  of  warriors  returned  to  the  group 
of  chieftains,  while  the  loyal  Wolf  Robe  came  racing 
down  the  slope,  his  hair  streaming,  his  elbows  flap- 
ping. In  a  few  minutes  he  dropped  rein  at  the  gate 
and  re-entered  the  yard.  Standing  before  his  chief, 
he  delivered  his  message. 

"  Their  hearts  are  very  glad  at  your  good  words, 
269 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

but  the  women  are  crying  for  their  babies.  They 
ask  that  you  send  them  away  before  the  bad  white 
men  come.  Send  them  out  towards  the  hills  and 
they  will  come  down  and  get  them — this  they  said." 

"  What  did  the  scouts  say?" 

"  They  said  that  the  sentinels  on  the  hills  saw  the 
white  men  break  camp  and  come  this  way — many  of 
them — so  they  say." 

"  Where  are  they  now?' 

"  They  are  hidden  in  the  pines  of  the  valley.  They 
will  soon  be  here — so  they  say." 

"  Take  a  fresh  pony  and  ride  back  and  tell  all  who 
have  children  here  to  come  down  and  talk  with  me. 
Tell  them  I  will  turn  the  white  men  away.  No  one 
shall  be  harmed.  The  children  are  safe.  There 
will  be  no  war.  I  will  meet  them  in  the  old  camp.  I 
keep  repeating  there  is  no  danger  because  I  believe 
it,"  he  said  to  the  silent  group  around  him,  after  Wolf 
Robe  rode  away.  "  There  is  nothing  to  be  done  but 
wait.  So  go  about  your  duties,"  he  added,  with  a 
note  of  command. 

One  by  one  the  employe's  dropped  away  till  only 
Wilson  remained.  His  only  sign  of  nervousness 
was  a  quiver  of  the  muscles  of  one  cheek,  where  he 
held  his  quid  of  tobacco.  His  bright  blue  eyes  were 
fixed  on  the  sentinels,  while  he  leaned  negligently 
against  the  fence.  Lawson,  smoking  a  German 
pipe,  was  watching  the  warriors  on  the  hills,  a  rapt 
expression  on  his  face,  as  if  he  were  working  out 
some  problem  in  ethics  which  demanded  complete 
concentration  and  absorption  of  thought.  The  two 
girls  had  drawn  close  together  as  if  for  comfort,  their 
nerves  a-quiver  with  the  strain. 

270 


THE  RETURN  OF   THE   MOB 

"Are  you  waiting  for  something  to  go  off?"  sud- 
denly asked  Curtis. 

Each  one  started  a  little,  and  all  laughed  together. 

"I  think  I  was/'  confessed  Elsie. 

"You  seemed  to  be  holding  your  breath.  I  wish 
you'd  both  go  in  and  rest/'  he  pleaded.  "It  is  no 
use— 

"They're  coming!"  interrupted  Lawson. 

"Where?    Where?" 

"The  sentinels  are  signalling  again." 

All  turned  to  the  east,  but  nothing  could  be  seen — 
no  smoke,  no  dust,  no  sign  of  horsemen — yet  the 
swift  circling  of  the  sentinels  and  the  turmoil  among 
the  warriors  on  the  butte  indicated  the  menace  of 
an  approaching  army.  Another  little  band  detached 
itself  from  the  huddle  of  the  camp  and  came  down 
the  hill,  slowly  and  in  single  file. 

"The  squaws  are  coming  for  their  children,  even 
before  Wolf  Robe  reaches  them,"  said  Lawson. 

"And  there's  the  mob!"  said  Curtis,  and  at  his 
words  a  keen  thrill  of  fear  ran  through  the  hearts  of 
the  women.  With  set,  pale  faces  they  looked  away 
beneath  levelled  finger. 

"That's  right/'  said  Wilson,  "and  two  hundred 
strong." 

The  sad -colored  horsemen  were  pouring  over  a 
high,  pine-clad  ridge  some  two  miles  to  the  east,  and 
streaming  down  into  a  narrow  valley  behind  a  sharp 
intervening  butte. 

"Now,  girls,  you  must  go  in!"  commanded  Curtis, 
sharply.  "You  can  do  no  good — " 

"George,  let  us  stay!"  pleaded  Jennie.  "We 
saved  you  yesterday,  and  we  may  help  to-day." 

271 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"  What  is  the  use  of  shutting  us  in  the  house?  I'm 
not  afraid/'  added  Elsie.  "These  men  will  do  us  no 
harm." 

"I  beg  you  will  not  interfere/'  he  said,  looking  at 
Jennie,  but  Elsie  knew  he  included  her  as  well.  "  It 
isn't  a  bit  impressive  to  have  an  agent  flanked  with 
women — in  a  council  of  war." 

"Hang  the  looks!  they're  mighty  effective  some- 
times/' remarked  Lawson. 

"That's  right!"  chimed  in  Wilson.  "By  the 
Lord!  they  look  sassy/'  he  added,  referring  back  to 
the  cowboys. 

They  formed  a  sinister  cavalcade  as  they  came 
streaming  down  the  rough  road,  two  and  two,  like 
a  monstrous  swift  serpent,  parti  -  colored,  sinuous, 
silent,  save  for  the  muffled  clatter  of  their  horses' 
hoofs.  Curtis  nerved  himself  for  the  shock,  and, 
though  weakened  and  embarrassed  by  the  presence 
of  Elsie  and  Jennie,  he  presented  a  soldierly  breast 
to  the  mob.  Had  it  been  a  question  of  protecting  the 
women,  the  case  would  have  been  different,  but  to 
argue  a  point  of  law  with  them  at  his  elbow  exposed 
him  to  ridicule  and  to  interruption. 

As  the  horsemen  debouched  upon  the  valley  road, 
a  prodigious  cloud  of  dust  arose  and  sailed  away  on 
the  wind,  completely  hiding  the  rear  ranks  so  that 
they  could  not  be  numbered.  As  they  drew  near, 
the  sheriff  could  be  seen  riding  at  the  head  of  the 
column  side  by  side  with  a  big  man  in  a  blue  shirt. 
They  approached  at  a  shacking  trot,  which  was  more 
menacing  than  a  gallop  would  have  been — it  was 
steady,  inexorable,  self-contained  as  a  charge  of 
cavalry. 

272 


THE  RETURN   OF  THE  MOB 

As  they  reached  the  issue-house,  Curtis  opened  the 
gate  and  stepped  out  into  the  road  and  faced  them 
alone,  and  Elsie  grew  cold  with  fear  as  the  sheriff 
and  his  formidable  following  rode  steadily  up.  When 
almost  upon  the  agent  the  leader  turned,  and,  push- 
ing his  limp  hat  away  from  his  eyes,  shouted : 

"PI  alt  I"  As  the  men  pulled  in  their  horses  he 
added,  "Keep  back  there!" 

The  mob  had  found  a  leader,  and  was  organized 
for  violence.  Curtis,  with  folded  arms,  seemed  small 
and  weak  as  the  army  of  invasion  came  to  a  stand, 
filling  the  lane  between  the  office  and  the  agency  house 
with  trampling  horses  and  cursing  men. 

"  Good  -  morning/'  growled  the  leader,  surlily. 
"We're  come  for  old  Elk,  and  I  want  to  say  we  get 
him  this  time.  No  monkey  business  goes  with  old 
Bill  Yarpe.  Women  can't  fool  me/' 

Calvin  Streeter  rode  out  of  the  throng  and  pushed 
his  way  to  the  front. 

Yarpe  yelled :  " H'yar !     Keep  in  line  there!" 

"Go  to  helll"  replied  Calvin,  as  he  rode  past  him. 
'Tin  no  nigger.  I  want  to  hear  what  goes  on,  and  I 
tell  ye  right  now  you  treat  these  people  fair  or  you'll 
hear  from  me/' 

'Til  shoot  you  up  a  few  if  you  ain't  keerful,  young 
feller,"  replied  the  old  ruffian. 

"That's  right,  General,  he's  too  fresh/'  called  some 
one. 

Calvin  spurred  his  horse  alongside  Yarpe's  and 
looked  him  in  the  eye  with  a  glare  which  made  the 
older  man  wince.  "  You  be  decent  before  these 
women  or  I'll  cut  the  heart  out  o'  ye.  You  hear 
mel" 

.8  273 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

Curtis  stepped  forward.  "  Careful,  Streeter — don't 
provoke  trouble;  we'll  protect  the  women." 

The  sheriff  rode  between  the  two  men.  "Cal,  git 
away — you're  my  deputy,  remember." 

As  Cal  reined  his  horse  away,  Curtis  went  to  him 
and  said,  in  a  low  voice :  "  I  appreciate  your  chivalry, 
Calvin,  but  be  careful;  don't  excite  them." 

As  he  looked  into  the  big,  red,  whiskey-bloated 
face  of  Yarpe,  Curtis  was  frankly  dismayed.  The 
old  ruffian  was  not  only  inflamed  with  liquor,  he  was 
intoxicated  with  a  subtler  elixir — the  pride  of  com- 
mand. As  he  looked  back  over  his  followers  he  visi- 
bly expanded  and  a  savage  glare  lit  up  his  eyes. 
"  Keep  quiet,  boys ;  I'll  settle  this  thing." 

Curtis  again  stepped  towards  the  sheriff.  "  What 
do  you  propose  to  do,  Mr.  Sheriff?" 

Yarpe  broke  in  boisterously.  "  We  want  old  Elk. 
Bring  him  out  or  we  go  after  him."  A  chorus  of  ap- 
plause followed. 

"On  what  authority  do  you  make  this  demand?" 
asked  Curtis,  facing  Yarpe. 

"On  the  authority  of  the  sheriff  of  Pinon  City/' 
replied  Yarpe,  "and  we  come  along  to  see  he  does 
his  duty." 

"  The  sheriff  is  present  and  can  speak  for  himself. 
He  was  my  guest  last  night  and  made  an  agreement 
with  me,  which,  as  an  honorable  man,  he  is  disposed 
to  keep." 

The  sheriff  avoided  Curtis's  eye,  but  Yarpe  replied : 

"He  showed  the  white  feather.  He  let  you  fool 
him,  but  you  can't  fool  this  crowd.  Bring  on  youl 
Injun,  or  we  go  get  him." 

"  Have  you  a  warrant?" 
274 


THE  RETURN   OF  THE  MOB 

"Oh,  damn  the  warrant !" 

The  sheriff  cleared  his  throat.  "Yes,  I  have  a 
warrant  for  Crawling  Elk  and  Grayman,"  he  said, 
and  began  seaching  his  pockets.  The  decisive  mo- 
ment had  arrived. 


XXIV 

THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

minutely  studied  the  crowd,  which  was 
made  up  very  largely  of  reckless  young  men 
— cowboys  from  all  over  the  range,  together  with 
the  loafers  and  gamblers  of  the  cow-towns.  The 
sheriff's  deputies  were  all  well  to  the  front,  but  were 
quiet ;  they  seemed  to  be  a  little  abashed  by  the  gaze 
of  the  women  to  whom  they  were  indebted  for  their 
dinner  of  yesterday.  Each  member  of  the  gang  was 
burdened  with  ammunition  and  carried  both  rifle  and 
revolver. 

The  sheriff  dismounted  and  handed  a  paper  to  Cur- 
tis, who  took  plenty  of  time  to  read  it.  It  was  mani- 
festly bogus,  manufactured  for  use  as  a  bluff,  and 
had  not  been  properly  sworn  out;  but  to  dispute  it 
would  be  to  anger  the  cattlemen.  There  was  only 
one  chance  for  delay. 

"  Very  well/'  he  said,  at  last.  "  This  warrant  calls 
for  two  of  the  head  men  among  the  Tetongs.  Of 
course,  I  understand  your  motives.  You  do  not  in- 
tend to  charge  these  chiefs  with  the  crime,  you  only 
wish  to  force  the  tribe  to  yield  some  one  else  to  your 
vengeance.  In  face  of  such  a  force  as  this  of  yours, 
Mr.  Sheriff,  I  can  only  yield,  though  I  deny  your 
right  to  lay  hand  on  one  of  my  charges.  I  do  all  this 

276 


THE   GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

under  pressure.  If  your  men  will  retire  a  little  I  will 
call  a  messenger  and  communicate  with  the  chiefs 
named,  and  ask — " 

Yarpe  glared.  "Communicate  hell!  Sheriff,  say 
the  word  and  we'll  go  and  get  'em/' 

Curtis  fixed  a  calm  gaze  upon  him.  "You  are  a 
brave  man,  Mr.  Yarpe,  but  you'll  need  all  your  reso- 
lution when  you  charge  up  that  hill  in  the  face  of 
those  desperate  warriors."  As  he  swept  his  arm  out 
towards  the  west  all  eyes  were  turned  on  the  swarming 
mass  of  mounted  Tetongs.  The  women  had  moved 
higher,  and  were  halted  just  on  the  eastern  brow  of 
the  high  ridge,  behind  and  to  the  right  of  the  fighting 
men.  "Now  what  will  you  do,  Mr.  Sheriff?"  pur- 
sued Curtis ;  "  act  with  me  through  the  head  men,  or 
make  your  demand  of  the  whole  tribe?" 

A  dispute  arose  among  the  crowd.  A  few  shouted, 
noisily,  "Say  the  word  and  we'll  sweep  the  greasy 
devils  off  the  earth."  But  the  larger  number,  like 
the  sheriff's  posse  of  the  day  before,  found  it  not  easy 
to  overawe  this  quiet  soldier. 

Calvin  harangued  the  leader.  "  No,  I  will  not  but- 
ton my  lip,"  he  shouted  again,  confronting  Yarpe, 
"  for  you  nor  no  other  man.  You  let  the  sheriff  and 
the  Captain  fix  this  thing  up.  What  are  you  in  this 
thing  for,  anyhow?  You  don't  own  a  foot  of  land 
nor  a  head  o'  stock.  You're  nothing  but  a  bum! 
You  can't  get  trusted  for  a  pound  of  tobacco.  Nice 
man  to  lead  a  mob — " 

"  Shut  him  up,  Bill/'  shouted  one  fellow. 

"  Cal's  right,"  called  another. 

"Don't  let  'em  fool  ye,  Bill;  we  come  fer  a  red- 
skin, and  we'll  have  him  or  burn  the  town." 

277 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

Calvin  had  a  revolver  in  each  hand,  and  on  his 
face  was  a  look  that  meant  war. 

Curtis  called  to  Lawson.  "  Take  the  women  in, 
quick!"  He  feared  shooting  among  the  leaders  of 
the  mob.  "Don't  shoot,  Calvin.  Keep  the  peace." 

With  tears  of  impotent  rage  filling  her  eyes,  Elsie 
retreated  towards  the  office  under  Lawson's  care. 
Curtis  stepped  to  the  side  of  the  leader.  "Silence 
your  gang,"  he  said. 

Yarpe  raised  his  bellowing  voice.  "Keep  quiet, 
there!  I'll  settle  this  thing  in  a  minute." 

"Keep  back!"  commanded  the  sheriff. 

The  crowd  fell  back  a  little,  with  Calvin  crowding 
them  hard,  revolver  in  hand.  "  No  more  funny  busi- 
ness with  me,"  he  said,  and  death  blazed  from  his 
eyes.  "Get  back!" 

Quiet  having  been  restored,  the  sheriff,  Curtis,  and 
Yarpe  were  revealed  in  animated  argument.  Cur- 
tis was  talking  against  time  —  every  moment  was 
precious. 

"If  you  give  in,  your  chances  for  re-election  ain't 
worth  a  leatherette,"  Yarpe  said  to  the  sheriff. 

"  You  crazy  fool !  You  wouldn't  charge  that  hill?" 
asked  the  sheriff. 

"That's  what  I  would,  and  that's  what  the  boys 
come  for." 

"  But  what  good  would  it  do?" 

"It  would  learn  these  red  devils  a  lesson  they 
wouldn't  forget,  and  it  would  make  you  an'  me  the 
most  popular  men  in  the  county.  If  you  don't  do  it, 
you're  dead  as  the  hinges  of  hell." 

"If  you  charge  that  hill,  some  of  you  will  stay 
there,"  put  in  Curtis. 

278 


THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

Yarpe  turned  and  roared :  "  Boys,  the  sheriff  has 
weakened.  Will  you  follow  me?" 

"We  will!"  shouted  the  reckless  majority. 

At  this  precise  moment,  while  looking  over  the 
sheriff's  head  towards  the  pinon-spotted  hill  to  the 
west,  Curtis  caught  the  gleam  of  something  white 
bobbing  down  the  hill.  It  disappeared,  but  came 
into  sight  lower  down,  a  white  globe  based  in  a  splash 
of  blue.  It  was  a  white  helmet,  topping  the  uniform 
of  a  cavalry  officer.  A  sudden  emotion  seized  Cur- 
tis by  the  throat — his  heart  warmed,  swelled  big  in 
his  bosom.  Oh,  the  good  old  color!  Now  he  could 
see  the  gauntleted  gloves,  the  broad  shoulders,  the 
easy  seat  of  blessed  old  Jack  Maynard  as  he  ambled 
peacefully  across  the  flat. 

"Look  there!"  he  cried,  turning  to  the  group  inside 
the  gate,  his  finger  pointing  like  a  pistol.  His  voice 
rang  out  joyous  as  a  morning  bugle,  and  the  girls 
thrilled  with  joy. 

Yarpe  looked.  "Hell!  The  cavalry!  We're  eu- 
chred— clean." 

Over  the  hill  behind  the  officer  appeared  a  squadron 
of  gray  horse,  marching  in  single  file,  winding  down 
the  trail  like  a  long  serpent,  spotted  with  blue  and 
buff,  the  sun  sparkling  fitfully  from  their  polished 
brass  and  steel.  When  Curtis  turned  to  the  sheriff 
his  face  was  pale  with  excitement  for  the  first  time, 
quivering,  exultant.  "  You'll  have  the  federal  troops 
to  deal  with  now,"  he  said.  "  At  last  we  are  on  equal 
terms." 

A  deep  silence  fell  on  the  mob.  Every  ruffian 
of  them  seemed  suddenly  frozen  into  immobility, 
and  each  sat  with  head  turned  and  e3^es  wide-star- 

279 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

ing,  watching  the  coming  of  the  blue-shirted  horse- 
men. 

As  the  officer  approached  he  was  distinguishable 
as  a  powerful,  smooth-faced  young  man  in  a  cap- 
tain 's  uniform.  As  his  eyes  rested  on  Curtis  his 
plump,  red  face  broke,  into  a  broad  smile.  It  was 
plain  that  he  was  Irish,  and  not  averse  to  a  bit  of  a 
shindy. 

Riding  straight  up  to  the  agent,  he  formally  sa- 
luted, and  in  a  deep,  dry,  military  voice,  said : 

"Colonel  Daggett  presents  his  compliments  to 
Captain  Curtis  and  tenders  Squadron  B,  at  your  ser- 
vice. Captain  Maynard  in  command." 

With  equally  impersonal  decorum  Curtis  acknowl- 
edged the  courtesy. 

"Captain  Curtis  returns  the  compliment,  and 
thanks  Captain  Maynard  for  his  prompt  and  most 
opportune  arrival — Jack,  I'm  mighty  glad  to  see 
you/' 

Maynard  dismounted  and  they  shook  hands.  "  Same 
to  you,  old  man.  What's  all  the  row?" 

A  clear,  distant,  boyish  voice  cried,  "  By  columns  of 
four  into  line!"  and  the  bugle,  breaking  voice,  caused 
the  hair  of  the  agent's  head  to  stand ;  turning,  he  saw 
the  squadron  taking  form  as  it  crossed  the  stream. 
It  required  his  most  heroic  effort  to  keep  the  tears 
from  his  eyes  as  his  ear  heard  the  dull  rattle  of  scab- 
bards and  he  watched  the  splendid  play  of  the  gray 
horses'  legs  and  broad  chests  as  they  came  on,  weary 
but  full  of  spirit  yet.  There  was  something  inex- 
orable in  their  advance.  In  their  order,  their  clean 
glitter,  their  impersonal  grace,  was  expressed  the 
power  of  the  general  government. 

280 


THE   GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

Turning  to  the  sheriff,  he  said :  "  Sheriff  Winters, 
this  warrant  is  bogus — forged  this  morning  by  some 
one  of  your  lynching-party ;  the  ink  is  hardly  dry. 
I  decline  to  serve  it,"  and  he  tore  it  into  strips  and 
flung  it  on  the  ground. 

"Halt!"  cried  the  on-coming  commander,  and 
with  creak  of  saddle  and  diminishing  thunder  of 
hoofs  the  Gray  Squadron  stopped  within  fifty  feet 
of  the  agency  gate,  and  out  of  the  dust  a  young  lieu- 
tenant rode  forward  and  saluted. 

"  Hold  your  position,  Mr.  Payne,"  commanded  May- 
nard. 

"I  just  love  Captain  Maynard!"  said  Jennie,  fer- 
vently. 

"I'll  tell  him/'  said  Lawson. 

"Now,"  said  Maynard,  "what's  it  all  about? 
Nice  gang,  this!" 

The  mob  that  had  been  so  loud  of  mouth  now  sat 
in  silence  as  profound  as  if  each  man  had  been  smit- 
ten dumb.  It  was  easy  to  threaten  and  flourish 
pistols  in  the  face  of  an  Indian  agent  with  a  dozen 
women  to  protect,  but  this  wall  of  Uncle  Sam's  blue 
was  a  different  barrier — not  to  be  lightly  overleaped. 
The  cowboys  were  not  accustomed  to  facing  such 
men  as  these  when  they  shot  up  towns  and  raced  the 
Tetongs  across  the  hills. 

"Now  what  is  it  all  about?"  repeated  Maynard, 
composing  his  comedy  face  into  a  look  of  military 
sternness. 

Curtis  explained  swiftly  in  a  low  voice,  and  ended 
by  saying :  "  This  is,  in  effect,  a  lynching-party  on 
federal  territory.  What  would  you  do  in  such  a 
case?" 

'281 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"Order  them  off,  instanter!" 

"Precisely.  I  have  done  so,  but  they  refuse  to 
go." 

"Do  they?"  Maynard  turned  and  remounted  his 
horse.  Saluting,  he  said: 

"Captain  Curtis,  I  am  ready  to  execute  any  order 
you  may  choose  to  give." 

Curtis  saluted.  "  You  will  see  that  these  citizens, 
unlawfully  assembled,  leave  the  reservation  at  once. 
Sheriff  Winters,  with  all  due  respect  to  your  office, 
I  request  you  to  withdraw.  Captain  Maynard  will 
escort  you  to  the  borders  of  the  reservation.  When 
you  have  a  warrant  properly  executed,  send  or  bring 
it  to  me  and  I  will  use  every  effort  to  serve  it.  Good- 
morning,  sir." 

Captain  Maynard  drew  his  sword.  "Tention, 
squadron  1"  The  tired  horses  lifted  their  heads  as 
the  dusty  troopers  forced  them  into  line. 

Maynard 's  voice  rang  out:  "Left  wheel,  into  line 
— march  I" 

"You'll  hear  from  this!"  said  the  sheriff.  "You'll 
find  the  State  won't  stand  any  such  foolishness." 

Yarpe's  ferocity  had  entirely  evaporated.  r"Bout 
face,  boys;  we're  not  fightin'  the  United  States  army 
— I  had  enough  o'  that  in  '63.  Clear  outl  Our 
bluff  don't  go." 

The  cowboys,  cursing  under  breath,  whirled  their 
ponies  and  followed  Yarpe,  the  redoubtable.  The 
sheriff  brought  up  the  rear,  still  contending  for  the 
rights  of  the  county,  but  he  retreated.  Small  as  the 
dusty  squadron  looked,  it  was  too  formidable,  both 
because  of  its  commanders  and  because  of  the  ma- 
jestic idea  it  embodied. 

282 


THE  GRAY -HORSE  TROOP 

Calvin  was  the  last  to  leave.  "I  done  my  best, 
Major/'  he  said,  loudly,  in  order  that  Jennie  might 
hear. 

"  I  know  it,  Calvin ;  come  and  see  us  again  in  your 
civil  capacity/'  replied  Curtis,  and  waved  a  cordial 
salute. 

As  the  squadron  fell  in  behind  and  was  hidden  by 
the  dust  of  the  passing  cattlemen,  Curtis  turned  to 
where  Elsie  still  stood.  He  was  smiling,  but  his 
limbs  were  stiffened  and  inert  by  reason  of  the  ri- 
gidity of  his  long  position  before  the  posse. 

"We  are  saved!"  he  said,  in  mock-heroic  phrase. 

"  Oh,  wasn't  it  glorious  to  see  the  good  old  blue-and- 
buff !"  cried  Jennie,  the  tears  of  her  joy  still  on  her 
cheeks.  "  I  could  have  hugged  Captain  Maynard." 

"  There  is  chance  yet,"  said  Curtis.  "  He's  coming 
back." 

Elsie  did  not  speak  for  a  moment.  "What  would 
you  have  done  if  they  had  not  come?"  she  asked, 
soberly. 

"  I  could  have  delayed  them  a  little  longer  by  send- 
ing couriers  to  Elk  and  Grayman ;  but  let's  not  think 
of  that.  Let's  all  go  into  the  house;  you  look  com- 
pletely tired  out." 

Elsie  fairly  reeled  with  weakness,  and  Curtis  took 
her  arm.  "  You  are  trembling,"  he  said,  tenderly. 

"I  haven't  stirred  for  a  half-hour,"  she  said.  "I 
was  so  tense  with  the  excitement.  I  feared  you  would 
be  shot,  and  the  tribe  isn't  worth  the  sacrifice/'  she 
added,  with  a  touch  of  her  old  spirit. 

"I  was  in  no  physical  danger,"  he  replied.  "But 
I  should  have  felt  disgraced  had  the  mob  had  its 
way." 

283 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"The  people  are  coming  back/'  said  Lawson. 
"They  have  seen  the  soldiers." 

"So  they  are!"  exclaimed  Curtis.  "They  are 
shouting  with  joy.  Can't  you  hear  them?  The 
chiefs  are  riding  this  way  already;  they  know  the 
army  will  protect  them." 

The  thick  mass  of  horsemen  was  breaking  up, 
some  of  them  were  riding  towards  the  women  with 
the  camp  stuff,  others  were  crossing  the  valley,  while 
a  dozen  head  men,  riding  straight  towards  the  agency, 
began  to  sing  a  song  of  deliverance  and  victory.  Joy- 
ous shouts  could  be  heard  as  the  young  men  signalled 
the  good  news. 

"The  cattlemen  are  going — the  soldiers  have  come!" 


XXV 

AFTER  THE  STRUGGLE 

UPON  reaching  the  library  each  member  of  the 
party  sank  into  easy-chairs  with  sighs  of  deep 
relief,  relaxed  and  nerveless.  The  storm  was  over. 
Jennie  voiced  the  feeling  as  she  said,  "  Thank  the 
Lord  and  Colonel  Daggett."  Elsie  was  physically 
weary  to  the  point  of  drowsiness,  but  her  mind  was 
active.  Mrs.  Parker  was  bewildered  and  silent. 
Even  Parker  was  subdued  by  the  grave  face  of  the 
agent. 

Lawson,  with  a  curious  half-smile,  broke  the  silence. 
"  There  are  times  when  I  wish  I  owned  a  Catling 
gun  and  knew  how  to  use  it." 

Curtis  started  up.  "  Well,  it's  all  over  but  the 
shouting.  I  must  return  to  the  office  and  set  things 
in  order  once  more/' 

"You  ought  to  rest  a  little/'  said  Elsie.  "You 
must  feel  the  strain." 

"I  am  a  little  inert  at  the  moment,"  he  confessed, 
"but  I'm  Hamlet  in  the  play,  you  know,  and  must 
be  at  my  post.  I'll  meet  you  all  at  lunch.  You  need 
have  no  further  worry." 

The  employe's  responded  bravely  to  his  orders. 
The  cheerful  clink  of  the  anvil  broke  forth  with 
tranquillizing  effect.  The  school-bell  called  the  chil- 

285 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

dren  together,  the  tepees  began  to  rise  from  the  sod 
as  before,  and  the  sluggish  life  of  the  agency  resumed 
its  unhurried  flow,  though  beneath  the  surface  still 
lurked  vague  forms  of  fear.  Parker  returned  to  his 
studio,  Lawson  sought  his  den,  and  there  stretched 
out  to  smoke  and  muse  upon  the  leadings  of  the  event, 
while  Jennie  planned  a  mid-day  dinner  for  a  round 
dozen.  "It  will  be  a  sort  of  love-feast  to  Captain 
Maynard,"  she  said,  roguishly. 

"  Will  he  return  so  soon?"  asked  Elsie. 

"Oh  yes,  he'll  only  go  a  little  way.  Jack  May- 
nard  can  smell  a  good  dinner  across  a  range  of  foot- 
hills. Didn't  he  look  beautiful  as  he  smiled?  I  used 
to  think  he  grinned,  but  to-day — well,  he  looked  like 
a  heavenly  cherub  in  the  helmet  of  an  archangel  as 
he  rode  up/' 

Elsie  was  genuinely  amused.  "  What  is  the  mean- 
ing of  this  fervor.  Has  there  been  something  between 
you  and  Captain  Maynard  in  the  past?" 

"  Not  a  thing !  Oh,  I  always  liked  him — he's  so  good- 
natured — and  so  comical.  Can  you  peel  potatoes?" 

"I  never  did  such  a  thing  in  my  life,  but  I'll  try." 

About  one  o'clock  Maynard  came  jogging  back, 
accompanied  by  a  sergeant  and  a  squad  of  men, 
dusty,  tired,  and  hungry. 

Curtis  met  him  at  the  gate.  "Send  your  horses 
down  to  the  corral,  Captain.  You're  to  take  pot- 
luck  with  us." 

Maynard  dismounted,  slowly,  painfully.  "I've 
been  wondering  about  those  girls,"  he  said,  after  the 
horses  were  led  away.  "One  is  your  sister  Jennie, 
of  course;  but  who  is  the  other?  She's  what  the 
boys  would  call  a  '  queen. ' ' 

286 


AFTER   THE  STRUGGLE 

"  You've  heard  of  Andrew  J.  Brisbane?" 

"You  mean  the  erstwhile  Senator?" 

"Yes;  this  is  his  daughter." 

"Great  Himmel!     What  is  she  doing  here?" 

"She's  an  artist  and  is  making  some  studies  of 
Indians." 

"I  didn't  suppose  a  man  of  Brisbane's  blood  and 
brawn  could  have  a  girl  as  fine  as  she  looks  to  be." 

"Oh,  Brisbane  has  his  good  points —  But  come 
over  to  the  house.  Of  course  the  mob  gave  no  fur- 
ther trouble?" 

"Not  a  bit,  only  the  trouble  of  keeping  them  in 
sight ;  they  rode  like  Jehu.  I  left  the  chase  to  Payne 
— it  was  what  Cooper  used  to  call  a  '  stern  chase  and 
a  long  chase.'  Your  quarters  aren't  so  bad,"  he 
added,  as  they  entered  the  library. 

Jennie  came  in  wearing  an  apron  and  looking  as 
tasty  as  a  dumpling.  "How  do  you  do,  Colonel 
Maynard?"  she  cried  out,  most  cordially. 

He  gave  his  head  a  comical  flirt  on  one  side.  "I 
beg  pardon!  Why  Colonel?" 

"  I've  promoted  you  for  the  brave  deed  of  this  morn- 
ing." 

He  recovered  himself .  "Oh! — oh — yes! —  Hah!  I 
had  forgotten.  You  saw  me  put  'em  to  flight?  I 
was  a  little  late,  but  I  gave  service,  don't  you  think?" 

"You  were  wonderful,  but  I  know  you're  hungry; 
we're  to  have  dinner  soon — a  real  dinner,  not  a  lunch." 

He  looked  a  little  self-conscious.  "  Well- -I— shall 
be  delighted.  You  see,  I  was  awake  most  of  the  night, 
and  in  riding  one  gets  hungry — and,  besides,  break- 
fast was  a  little  hurried.  In  fact,  I  don't  remember 
that  I  had  any." 

287 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP- 

"Why,  you  poor  thing!  I'll  hurry  it  forward 
Cheer  up/'  and  she  whisked  out  of  the  room. 

Maynard  necked  a  little  dust  from  his  sleeve  and 
inquired,  carelessly :  "  Your  sister  isn't  married?" 

"No,  she  sticks  to  me  still.  She's  a  blessed,  good 
girl,  and  I  don't  know  what  I  should  do  without  her." 

"  You  mustn't  be  selfish,"  remarked  Maynard,  re- 
flectively. "  But  see  here,  I  must  knock  off  some 
dust,  or  I  will  lose  the  good  impression  I  made  on 
the  ladies." 

"  Make  yourself  at  home  here  and  we'll  have  some- 
thing to  eat  soon,"  said  Curtis  at  the  door 

The  dinner  was  unexpectedly  merry.  Every  one 
felt  like  celebrating  the  army,  and  Maynard,  as  the 
representative  of  the  cavalry  arm,  came  near  blush- 
ing at  the  praise  which  floated  his  way  on  toasts 
which  were  drunk  from  a  bottle  of  sherry,  a  liquor 
Jennie  had  smuggled  in  for  cooking  purposes. 

"  I  admit  I  did  it,"  he  rose  to  say,  "  but  I  hold  it 
not  meet  to  have  it  so  set  down." 

Parker  was  extravagantly  gay.  "I'm  going  to 
do  a  statue  of  Maynard  on  his  horse  rushing  to  our 
rescue,"  he  said.  "It  will  be  a  tinted  piece  like  the 
ancients  used  to  do.  That  white  helmet  shall  flash 
like  snow.  Sheridan  will  no  longer  be  the  great 
equestrian." 

"Leave  off  the  broad  smile,"  interrupted  Law- 
son.  "Captain  Maynard's  smile  made  light  of  our 
tragic  situation." 

"I  don't  think  so;  it  was  the  smile  of  combat," 
exclaimed  Elsie.  "  It  was  thrilling." 

Maynard  bowed.     "  Thank  you,  Miss  Brisbane." 

"It   was  Jack  Maynard's  murderin'  grin/'   said 
288 


AFTER  THE  STRUGGLE 

Curtis ;  "  it  was  the  look  the  boys  used  to  edge  away 
from  at  the  Academy.  I  must  tell  you,  Jack  nearly 
got  shunted  into  the  ways  of  glory.  He  could  whip 
any  man  in  West  Point  in  his  day,  and  a  New  York 
sporting  man  offered  to  back  him  for  a  career.  There- 
upon Jack  wrestled  with  the  tempter  and  'thrun 
'im.'  He  now  sees  his  mistake.  He  might  have 
been  'Happy  Jack,  the  Holy  Terror/  by  this  time, 
earning  two  hundred  thousand  a  year  like  the  great 
O'Neill/' 

Maynard  sighed.  "Instead  of  which,  here  I  am 
rescuing  beleaguered  damsels,  like  the  hero  of  a  dime 
novel,  on  two  thousand  a  year/' 

Jennie  spoke  up  sharply.  "I  will  not  have  Cap- 
tain Maynard  made  fun  of  any  more.  It  was  a  noble 
deed,  and  he  deserves  better  treatment  for  it." 

Maynard  bowed.  "  I  have  one  defender/'  he  said, 
soberly. 

"  Here's  another/'  cried  Elsie. 

"With  two  such  faithful  defenders  I  defy  the 
world!"  he  shouted,  valorously.  Thereupon  they 
left  off  joking  him. 

As  they  rose  from  the  table,  Curtis  turned  to  Elsie : 
"Would  you  like  to  go  with  me  to  make  a  tour  of 
the  camp?" 

Her  eyes  lighted  up.  "I  should  like  it  exceed- 
ingly." 

"  Very  well,  about  three  o'clock  we  will  go.  You 
will  have  time  for  a  siesta.  You  must  be  tired." 

"Oh  no,  I  am  quite  rested  and  ready  to  go  any 
time,"  and  her  bright  eyes  and  warm  color  confirmed 
her  words. 

With  military  promptness  the  horses  were  brought 
19  289 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

round,  and,  accompanied  by  Maynard  and  Jennie, 
Curtis,  with  Elsie  by  his  side,  led  the  way  to  the 
camp.  She  was  a  confident  horsewoman  and  rode 
a  fine  brown  pony,  and  Curtis,  who  had  never  rid- 
den with  her  before,  glowed  with  pleasure  in  her 
grace  and  skill. 

As  they  galloped  off  up  the  road  a  keen  twinge 
of  remorseful  pity  for  Lawson  touched  Elsie's  heart. 
He  was  grown  suddenly  older,  it  seemed  to  her,  as 
though  he  had  definitely  given  up  the  attempt  to 
remain  young,  and  this  thought  made  her  rather 
sober.  He  was  being  left  out  of  her  plans  now  al- 
most unconsciously,  while  the  other — 

"  One  of  the  real  heroes  in  this  affair/'  Curtis  was 
saying,  "  is  Crane's  Voice.  He  has  been  in  saddle 
nearly  thirty-six  hours,  and  is  willing  to  start  again 
to  Pinon  City  if  I  ask  it." 

"Of  course  you  will  not?" 

"  No.  I  will  send  a  white  man.  The  settlers 
might  do  even  Crane's  Voice  an  injury." 

All  was  quiet  in  the  camps,  with  little  sign  of  the 
precipitate  flight  of  the  morning,  either  in  the  faces 
of  the  men  or  in  the  disposal  of  the  tepees.  The 
old  men  and  some  of  the  women  came  out  to  greet 
their  Little  Father  and  the  soldier  of  the  good  heart, 
and  Curtis  gave  out  a  tranquillizing  message  and 
asked,  "Have  you  called  the  council?" 

"Ay,  for  sunrise  to-morrow,"  answered  Elk  and 
Two  Horns. 

"That  is  good,"  he  replied.  "Where  are  your 
young  men?" 

"Some  are  in  the  hills,  some  are  gone  as  messen- 
gers, others  are  watching  the  ponies." 

290 


AFTER   THE   STRUGGLE 

"  Call  them  all  in.  I  don't  want  them  riding  about 
to-night.  Keep  them  in  camp,  close  by  the  soldiers 
— then  no  harm  will  come  to  them/' 

So,  scattering  greetings  and  commands,  he  rode 
through  the  two  circles  of  tepees.  The  redmen  were 
all  eager  to  shake  hands  with  Maynard,  in  whom 
they  recognized  a  valiant  friend  as  well  as  an  old- 
time  enemy. 

They  found  the  camp  of  Grayman  less  tranquil, 
for  the  stragglers  were  still  coming  in  from  the  hills, 
and  scores  of  women  were  busy  resetting  their  tepees. 
Grayman  himself  came  forth,  nervous  and  eager. 
"  Ho,  Little  Father,  my  heart  is  glad  that  the  soldiers 
have  come/' 

"We  are  all  glad/'  replied  Curtis.  "Where  is 
your  son?" 

Grayman  looked  troubled.  "  I  do  not  know.  He 
is  away  with  Cut  Finger,  my  sister's  son." 

"  Cut  Finger  is  bad  company  for  your  son." 

"  I  know  it ;  but  they  are  blood-brothers,  as  is 
the  way  of  young  men.  Where  one  is,  there  the 
other  is  also." 

Maynard  and  Jennie  were  not  as  deeply  interested 
in  the  camp  as  they  had  given  out  to  be  at  starting. 
He  was  recalling  to  her  mind  some  of  the  parties  they 
had  attended  together  at  Fort  Sibley.  "  Really, 
Captain  Maynard,"  she  was  saying,  as  they  rode  up, 
"  you  would  have  it  appear  that  we  saw  a  great  deal 
of  each  other  in  those  days." 

"That's  my  contention  entirely,"  he  replied,  "and 
it  is  my  intention  to  continue  this  Indian  out- 
break indefinitely  in  order  to  go  into  cantonment 
here." 

291 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"You  always  were  susceptible  to  good  dinners, 
Captain  Maynard." 

"  Say  good  company,  and  you'll  be  right  entirely." 

Curtis,  having  caught  Maynard's  last  remark, 
called  out  in  the  biting  tone  of  the  upper  classman 
at  West  Point. 

"Are  you  on  special  duty,  Captain  Maynard,  or 
riding  in  the  park?" 

He  saluted  imperturbably.  "By  good  luck  I  am 
doing  both,  at  your  service/' 

"Merely  cast  your  eye  around  so  that  you  can  re- 
port the  Tetongs  peaceful  and  in  camp,  then  you 
may  ride  where  you  please." 

Maynard  swept  his  eyes  over  the  village.  "It  is 
done!  Now,  Miss  Curtis,  let's  try  for  the  top  of  that 
hill?" 

"  No,  no,  you  have  been  riding  all  night." 

"  Why,  so  I  have !  In  the  charm  of  your  presence 
I'd  forgotten  it.  I'm  supposed  to  be  fagged." 

"You  don't  look  it,"  remarked  Curtis,  humorously, 
running  his  eyes  over  the  burly  figure  before  him. 
"  At  the  same  time,  I  think  you'd  better  return.  Your 
commissariat  wagons  will  be  rumbling  in  soon." 

Maynard  again  saluted.  "Very  well,  'Major,'  it 
shall  be  so,"  and,  wheeling  his  horse  in  such  wise  as 
to  turn  Jennie's  pony,  they  galloped  off  together, 
leaving  Curtis  and  Elsie  to  follow. 

"It's  hard  to  realize  that  disaster  came  so  near  to 
us/'  he  said,  musingly,  and  Elsie  shaded  her  eyes 
with  her  hand  and  looked  up  at  the  hills. 

"  There  is  a  wonderful  charm  in  this  dry  country ! 
I  have  never  seen  such  blinding  sunshine.  But  life 
must  be  difficult  here." 

292 


AFTER  THE  STRUGGLE 

"You  begin  to  feel  that?  I  expect  to  stay  here  at 
least  five  years,  providing  I  am  not  removed." 

She  shuddered  perceptibly.  "  Five  years  is  a  long 
time  to  give  out  of  one's  life — with  so  little  to  show 
for  it." 

He  hesitated  a  moment,  then  said,  with  deep  feel- 
ing, "  It's  hard,  it's  lonely,  but,  after  all,  it  has  its 
compensations.  I  can  see  results.  The  worst  side  of 
it  all  is — I  can  never  ask  any  woman  to  share  such 
a  life  with  me.  I  feel  guilty  when  I  consider  Jennie 
— she  ought  to  have  a  home  of  her  own ;  she  has  no 
outlook  here." 

She  looked  straight  ahead  as  she  replied.  "You 
would  find  life  here  intolerable  without  her." 

"  I  know  it ;  but  in  my  best  moments  I  realize  how 
selfish  it  is  in  me  to  keep  her." 

"Suppose  you  were  to  resign,  what  would  you 
do?" 

"  I  would  try  to  secure  a  chance  at  some  field-work 
for  the  Ethnologic  Bureau.  It  doesn't  pay  very  well, 
but  it  would  be  congenial,  and  my  proficiency  in  the 
sign  language  would,  I  think,  make  me  valuable.  I 
have  determined  never  to  go  back  to  garrison  life 
without  some  special  duty  to  occupy  my  mind." 

"  Life  isn't  a  bit  simple  when  you  are  grown  up,  is 
it?" 

"Life  is  always  simple,  if  one  does  one's  duty." 

"That  is  a  soldier's  answer;  it  is  not  easy  for  me 
to  enter  into  that  spirit.  I  have  my  art,  and  no  sense 
of  duty  at  all." 

"  Your  position  is  equally  strange  to  me ;  but  duties 
will  discover  themselves — later.  A  life  without  duties 
is  impossible." 

293 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"I  know  what  you  mean,  but  I  do  not  intend  to 
allow  any  duty  to  circumscribe  my  art."  This  she 
uttered  defiantly. 

"  I  don't  like  to  hear  you  say  that.  Life  is  greater 
than  art." 

She  laughed.  "How  different  our  points  of  view! 
You  are  Anglo-Saxon,  I  am  French.  Art  counts  far 
more  with  us." 

"  Was  your  mother  French?      I  did  not  know  that/' 

"  Yes — a  Canadian.  I  have  her  nature  rather  than 
that  of  my  father/' 

"  Sometimes  I  think  you  are  your  father's  daughter. 
Did  your  mother  live  to  enjoy  her  husband's  suc- 
cess?" 

"Not  to  the  full.  Still,  she  had  a  nice  home  in 
Alta,  where  I  was  born.  She  died  before  he  was 
elected  Senator."  They  had  nearly  reached  the 
agency  now,  and  she  shook  off  her  sober  mood.  "  Shall 
we  go  in  with  a  dash?" 

"I'm  agreed." 

She  put  quirt  to  her  horse  and  they  entered  the  lane 
at  a  flying  gallop.  As  he  assisted  her  to  alight  at 
the  studio  door  he  said : 

"I  hope  your  father  will  not  require  you  to  join 
him  in  the  East.  It  is  a  great  pleasure  to  have  you 
here."  His  voice  touched  something  vibrant  in  her 
heart. 

"Oh,  I  don't  think  he  will  when  he  fully  under- 
stands the  situation.  I'm  sure  I  don't  want  to  go. 
I  shall  write  him  so." 

Curtis  rode  away  elate  as  a  boy.  Something 
which  he  did  not  care  to  define  had  come  to  him  from 
her,  subtle  as  a  perfume,  intangible  as  light,  and 

294 


AFTER   THE  STRUGGLE 

yet  it  had  entered  into  his  blood  with  most  trans- 
forming effect.  He  put  aside  its  analysis,  and  went 
about  his  duties  content  with  the  feeling  that  life 
was  growing  richer  day  by  day. 

Wilson,  seeing  his  shining  face,  sighed  and  said 
to  himself :  "  I  guess  the  Major  has  found  his  girl. 
He's  a  lucky  dog.  I  wish  I  could  pick  up  even  a  piece 
of  plain  calico,  I'd  be  satisfied/'  And  he  ran  through 
a  list  of  the  unmarried  women  within  reach,  to  no 
result,  as  usual. 

Meanwhile  the  supply  -  wagons  had  arrived,  and 
Captain  Maynard  was  overseeing  the  laying -out  of 
the  camp  just  below  the  agency.  Lieutenant  Payne 
and  his  command  returned  at  five  o'clock,  and  in  a 
short  time  the  little  village  of  white  tents  was  in  order. 
Curtis  came  over  to  insist  that  the  officers  take  dinner 
with  them  at  "  the  parsonage,"  and,  as  Captain  May- 
nard had  already  spoken  of  the  good  company  and 
the  excellent  dinner  he  had  enjoyed  in  the  middle  of 
the  day,  Lieutenant  Payne  was  quite  ready  to  com- 
ply, especially  as  his  lunch  had  been  as  light  as  his 
breakfast. 

The  meal  was  as  enjoyable  as  the  mid-day  dinner, 
and  the  Parkers  derived  much  comfort  from  the  pres- 
ence of  the  soldiers. 

"  I  guess  I'm  not  fitted  to  be  a  pioneer  artist/'  Par- 
ker confessed,  and  the  hearty  agreement  he  met  with 
quite  disconcerted  him. 

Mrs.  Parker  was  indignant  at  the  covert  ridicule 
of  her  husband,  and  was  silent  all  through  the  meal  ; 
indeed,  the  .burden  of  the  conversation  fell  upon  Jen- 
nie and  Maynard,  but  they  were  entirely  willing  to 
bear  it,  and  were  not  lacking  for  words 

295 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"It  is  good  to  hear  the  bugles  again/'  Jennie  re- 
marked, as  one  of  the  calls  rang  out  on  the  still  air, 
sweet  and  sad  and  as  far  removed  from  war  as  a  love 
song. 

"They're  not  so  pleasant  when  they  call  to  the 
same  monotonous  round  of  daily  duties/'  said  Mr. 
Payne. 

Curtis  smiled.  "Here's  another  disgruntled  offi- 
cer. What  would  you  do — kill  off  the  Indians  and 
move  into  the  city?" 

"  To  kill  off  a  few  measly  whites  might  insure  com- 
pleter  peace  and  tranquillity/'  replied  Maynard. 

"You  fellows  couldn't  be  more  righteously  em- 
ployed/' put  in  Lawson.  "You  might  begin  on  the 
political  whoopers  round  about." 

"  What  blasphemy ! "  cried  Jennie.  "  These  '  noble 
pioneers!" 

"  Founding  a  mighty  State/'  added  Curtis. 

"Founding  a  state  of  anarchy!"  retorted  Lawson. 
"  They  never  did  have  any  regard  for  law,  except  a 
law  that  worked  in  their  favor." 

Parker  got  in  a  word.  "  Lawson,  do  you  know 
what  you  are?  You're  what  Norman  Bass  used  to 
call '  a  blame  a-riss-to-crat. ' '  This  provoked  a  laugh 
at  Lawson's  expense. 

"  I  admit  it,"  said  Lawson,  calmly.  "  I  am  in- 
terested in  the  cowboy  and  the  miner — as  wild  an- 
imals— as  much  as  any  of  you,  but  as  founders  of  an 
empire!  The  hard  and  unlovely  truth  is,  they  are 
representatives  of  every  worst  form  of  American  vice  ; 
(hey  are  ignorant,  filthy,  and  cruel.  Their  value  as 
^ouriers  of  the  Christian  army  has  never  been  great 
with  me." 

296 


AFTER  THE  STRUGGLE 

Maynard  was  unusually  reflective  as  he  stared  at 
Lawson. 

"That's  mighty  plain  talk/'  he  observed,  in  the 
pause  that  followed.  "  You  couldn't  run  for  office  on 
speeches  like  that." 

"  Lawson 's  living  doesn't  depend  on  prevarica- 
tion/' remarked  Curtis.  "If  it  did—" 

"  If  it  did  I'd  lie  like  the  best—I  mean  the  worst  of 
you/'  replied  Lawson. 

"  In  a  few  years  there  will  not  be  an  Indian  left," 
Parker  remarked. 

"  The  world  will  be  the  poorer." 

"  They  will  all  be  submerged,"  continued  Parker. 

"Why  submerge  them?  Is  the  Anglo-Saxon  type 
so  adorable  in  the  sight  of  God  that  He  desires  all  the 
races  of  the  earth  to  be  like  unto  it?  If  the  proselytiz- 
ing zeal  of  the  missionaries  and  functionaries  of  the 
English-speaking  race  could  work  out,  the  world 
would  lose  all  its  color,  all  its  piquancy.  Hungary 
would  be  like  Scotland,  Scotland  would  be  Cornwall, 
Cornwall  would  duplicate  London,  and  London  re- 
flect New  York.  Beautiful  scheme  for  tailors,  shoe- 
makers, and  preachers,  but  depressing  to  artists." 

"  You  must  be  one  of  those  chaps  the  missionaries 
tell  about,  who  would  keep  men  savage  just  to  please 
your  sense  of  the  picturesque." 

"Savage!  There's  a  fine  word.  What  is  a  sav- 
age?" 

"A  man  who  needs  converting  to  our  faith,"  said 
Jennie. 

"A  man  to  exercise  the  army  on/'  said  Maynard. 

"A  man  to  rob  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,"  said 
Parker. 

297 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"You're  stealing  all  my  oratorical  thunder/'  com- 
plained Lawson.  "  When  a  speaker  asks  a  question 
like  that  he  doesn't  want  a  detailed  answer — he  is 
pausing  for  effect.  Speaking  seriously — " 

"Oh!"  said  Maynard,  "then  you  were  not  serious." 

Lawson  went  his  oratorical  way.  "My  conviction 
is  that  savagery  held  more  of  true  happiness  than  we 
have  yet  realized ;  and  civilization,  as  you  begin  to 
see,  does  not,  by  any  construction,  advance  the  sum 
of  human  happiness  as  it  should  do." 

"What  an  advantage  it  is  to  have  an  indepen- 
dent income!"  mused  Maynard,  looking  about  the 
table.  "There's  a  man  who  not  only  has  opinions, 
but  utters  them  in  a  firm  tone  of  voice." 

"I  am  being  instructed,"  remarked  Elsie.  "I 
used  to  think  no  one  took  the  Indian's  side;  now 
every  one  seems  opposed  to  the  cattlemen." 

"When  we  are  civilized  enough  to  understand 
this  redman,  he  will  have  disappeared,"  said  Cur- 
tis, very  soberly. 

"Judging  from  the  temper  of  this  State  at  pres- 
ent, I  reckon  you're  about  right,"  replied  Maynard. 
"Well,  it's  out  o'  my  hands,  as  the  fellah  says;  I'm 
not  the  Almighty;  if  I  were  I'd  arrange  things  on  a 
different  basis." 

"We  are  all  transition  types,"  remarked  Curtis, 
harking  back  to  a  remark  of  Lawson's  making. 

"Even  these  settlers  are  immortal  souls,"  said 
Parker. 

"Consider!"  exclaimed  Lawson.  "How  could  we 
live  without  the  Indian  question?  Maynard  would 
be  like  Othello — occupation  gone.  Curtis  would 
cease  to  be  a  philanthropist.  Elsie  Bee  Bee  would 

298 


AFTER   THE   STRUGGLE 

go  sadly  back  to  painting  '  old  hats '  and  dead  ducks.  I 
alone  of  all  this  company  would  be  busy  and  well  paid. 
I  would  continue  to  study  the  remains  of  the  race/' 

Jennie  rose.  "Put  a  period  there/'  said  she,  "till 
we  escape,  and,  remember,  if  we  hear  any  loud  talk 
we'll  come  out  and  fetch  you  away,"  and  she  hur- 
ried out  into  the  sitting-room,  where  Elsie  and  Mrs. 
Parker  yielded  up  valuable  suggestions  about  dress. 

As  the  Parkers  rose  to  go,  Lawson  approached 
Elsie  and  asked  in  a  low  voice :  "Are  you  going  home 
to  the  mess-house  to-night?  If  you  are,  I  want  to 
go  with  you." 

"I'll  be  ready  in  a  moment,"  she  replied,  but  her 
eyes  wavered.  As  they  stepped  out  together  quite 
in  the  old  way,  he  abruptly  but  gently  began : 

"It  is  significant  of  our  changed  relations  when 
I  say  that  this  is  the  first  time  I've  had  an  oppor- 
tunity for  a  private  word  since  our  camping  trip. 
There  is  no  need  of  this  constraint,  Elsie.  I  want 
you  to  be  your  good,  frank  self  with  me.  I'll  not 
misunderstand  it.  I  am  not  charging  anything  up 
against  you.  In  fact,  I  can  see  that  you  are  right 
in  your  decision,  but  it  hurts  me  to  have  you  avoid 
me  as  you  have  done  lately." 

There  was  something  in  his  voice  which  brought 
the  hot  tears  to  her  eyes  and  she  replied,  gently :  "I'm 
very  sorry,  Osborne.  I  hoped  you  wouldn't  care — 
so  much,  and  I  didn't  mean — " 

"I've  tried  not  to  show  my  hurt,  for  my  own  sake 
as  well  as  yours,  but  the  fact  is  I  didn't  realize  how 
deeply  you'd  taken  root  in  my  thoughts  till  I  tried 
to  put  you  away.  It  is  said  that  no  two  lovers  are 

299 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

ever  equal  sharers  in  affection — one  always  gives 
more  than  the  other — or  one  expects  more  than  the 
other.  I  was  perfectly  sincere  when  I  made  that 
bargain  with  you,  and  I  know  you  were;  but  you 
are  younger  than  I,  and  that  has  changed  the  con- 
ditions for  you.  I  am  older  than  you  thought,  and 
I  find  myself  naturally  demanding  more  and  more. 
I  think  I  understand  better  than  I  did  two  days  ago 
why  you  gave  me  back  the  ring,  and  I  do  not  com- 
plain of  it.  I  shall  never  again  refer  to  it,  but  we 
can  at  least  be  friends.  This  cold  silence — " 

She  put  out  her  hand.     "Don't,  please  don't." 

"I  can't  bear  your  being  stiff  and  uncomfortable 
in  my  presence,  Bee  Bee!  You  even  called  me  Mis- 
ter Lawson."  There  was  a  pathetic  sort  of  humor 
in  his  voice  which  touched  her.  "Let  us  be  good 
comrades  again." 

She  gave  him  her  hand.  "Very  well,  Osborne. 
But  you  are  mistaken  if  you  think — " 

"Time  will  tell!"  he  interrupted,  and  his  voice 
was  strenuously  cheerful.  "Anyhow,  we  are  on  a 
sound  footing  again.  Good-night." 

The  presence  of  Maynard  and  the  troop  was  a 
greater  relief  to  Curtis  than  he  realized.  He  laid 
down  for  a  moment's  rest  on  his  couch  and  fell  into 
a  dreamless  sleep  at  once,  and  Jennie,  deciding  not 
to  arouse  him,  spread  a  light  shawl  over  him  and 
withdrew  softly.  Maynard's  coming  brought  a  deep- 
er sense  of  security  than  a  stranger  could  have 
given  with  twice  the  number  of  troops.  "Jack  May- 
nard is  so  dependable,"  she  said,  and  a  distinct  note 
of  tenderness  trembled  in  her  voice. 

300 


XXVI 

THE  WARRIOR  PROCLAIMS  HIMSELF 

THE  messengers  from  both  Riddell  and  Pinon 
reported  to  Curtis  about  daylight,  laden  with 
papers  and  telegrams.  The  telegrams  naturally 
received  first  reading.  There  was  one  filled  with 
instructions  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and 
one  from  the  Commissioner,  bidding  him  stand  firm. 
Several  anxious  ones  from  various  cities,  all  of  this 
tenor :  "  Is  there  any  danger?  my  niece  is  one  of 
your  teachers/'  etc.  In  the  midst  of  the  others,  Cur- 
tis came  upon  a  fat  one  for  Elsie,  plainly  from  her 
father.  This  he  put  aside  till  after  breakfast,  when 
he  permitted  himself  the  pleasure  of  carrying  it  to  the 
studio.  He  found  her  at  work,  painting  a  little  brown 
tot  of  a  girl  in  the  arms  of  her  smiling  mother. 

"  I  have  a  telegram  for  you — from  your  father,  no 
doubt." 

She  rose  quickly  and  opened  the  envelope.  As 
she  read  she  laughed.  "Poor  papa;  he  is  genuinely 
alarmed.  Read  it." 

He  took  it  with  more  interest  than  he  cared  to  show, 
and  found  it  most  peremptory  in  tone. 

"  Reports  from  Fort  Smith  most  alarming.  Come 
out  at  once.  Have  wired  the  agent  to  furnish  es- 
cort and  conveyance.  Shall  expect  you  to  reply  im- 

301 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

mediately,  giving  news  that  you  have  left  agency. 
You  should  not  have  gone  there.  I  will  meet  you 
at  Pinon  City  if  possible ;  if  I  do  not,  take  train  for 
Alta.  Wire  me  your  plans.  Country  is  much 
alarmed.  I  must  hear  from  you  at  once  or  shall 
be  worried/' 

Curtis  looked  up  with  an  amused  light  in  his  eyes. 
"He's  a  little  incoherent,  but  sufficiently  manda- 
tory. When  will  you  start?" 

"  I  will  send  a  telegram  out  at  once  that  I  am  safe, 
and  all  danger  over.  He  will  not  want  me  to  leave 
now." 

"  Very  well.  A  messenger  will  start  at  once  with 
all  our  letters  and  messages.  Anything  you  wish 
to  send  can  go  at  the  same  time." 

"What  news  have  you?" 

"I  only  had  time  to  glance  at  my  mail,  but  the 
papers  are  all  that  Lawson  has  predicted.  If  you 
would  know  how  important  a  criminal  I  am,  read 
these  " — he  pointed  at  a  bundle  on  a  chair.  "I  must 
go  back  to  the  office  now,  but  I  will  wait  for  your 
letters  and  telegrams  before  despatching  a  messen- 
ger. If  you  think  it  better  to  go  than  to  stay,  I  will 
ask  Captain  Maynard  to  escort  you  to  the  station." 

"I  will  stay,"  she  replied. 

She  wrote  a  brief  telegram  to  her  father,  saying : 
"I  am  quite  safe  and  hard  at  work.  All  quiet; 
don't  worry,"  and  also  composed  a  letter  giving  vital 
details  of  the  situation  and  taking  strong  ground 
against  the  way  in  which  the  cattlemen  had  invaded 
the  reservation.  In  conclusion  she  added :  "  I  have 
a  fine  studio,  plenty  of  models,  and  am  in  fine  health ; 
I  cannot  think  of  giving  up  my  work  because  of  this 

302 


THE  WARRIOR   PROCLAIMS  HIMSELF 

foolish  panic.  Don't  let  these  settlers  influence  you 
against  Captain  Curtis;  he's  right  this  time." 

As  she  ran  through  the  papers  and  caught  the 
full  significance  of  their  precipitate  attack  on  the 
agent,  her  teeth  clinched  in  hot  indignation.  At 
the  first  breath,  before  they  were  sure  of  a  single 
item  of  news,  they  leaped  upon  an  honorable  man, 
accusing  him  of  concealing  stolen  cattle  and  of  har- 
boring murderers  and  thieves.  "  As  for  the  Indians, 
it  is  time  to  exterminate  these  vermin!  Let  the  State 
wipe  out  this  tribe  and  its  agency,  and  send  this  fel- 
low Curtis  back  to  his  regiment  where  he  belongs/' 
was  the  burden  of  their  song. 

As  she  read  on,  tingling  with  wrath  at  these  vul- 
garly written  and  utterly  un-Christian  editorials,  the 
girl  caught  an  amazing  side-glimpse  of  herself  and 
the  views  she  once  held.  She  remembered  reading 
just  such  reports  once  before,  and  joining  with  her  fa- 
ther in  his  desire  to  punish  the  redmen.  Was  Lawson 
right?  Had  her  notions  of  the  "  brave  and  noble  pio- 
neers fighting  the  wild  beast  and  the  savage  "  arisen 
from  ignorance  of  their  true  nature?  Had  they  al- 
ways been  as  narrow,  as  bigoted,  as  relentless,  and 
as  greedy  as  these  articles  hinted  at?  Some  of  Law- 
son's  clean-cut,  relentless  phrases  came  back  to  her 
at  the  moment,  and  she  began  to  believe  that  he  was 
nearer  right  than  she  had  been.  And  her  father? 
Would  he  sanction  such  libels  as  these?  At  last 
the  essential  grandeur  of  the  position  held  in  com. 
mon  by  both  Curtis  and  Lawson — of  the  right  of  the 
small  people  to  their  place  on  the  planet  —  came  to 
her,  and  in  opposition  to  their  grave,  sweet  eyes  she 
saw  again  the  brutal,  leering  faces  of  the  mob,  and 

303 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

comprehended  the  feelings  of  a  chief  like  Grayman, 
as  he  confronts  the  oncoming  hordes  of  a  destroy- 
ing race. 

Meanwhile,  in  the  grassy  hollow  between  two 
round-top  hills  the  bands  of  Elk  and  Grayman  were 
gathered  in  extraordinary  council.  No  one  was  in 
gala-dress,  no  one  was  painted,  all  were  serious  or 
sad  or  morose.  Upon  their  folded  blankets  the  head 
men  sat  in  a  small  circle  on  the  smooth  sod,  exposed 
to  the  blazing  sun.  Behind  them  stodd  or  knelt  a 
larger  circle,  the  men  and  boys  on  one  side,  the  wom- 
en on  the  other,  while  in  the  rear,  mounted  on  their 
fleetest  ponies,  some  two  hundred  of  the  young  men 
were  ranked,  enthralled  listeners  to  the  impassioned 
speeches  of  the  old  men. 

Crawling  Elk  made  the  first  address,  repeating  the 
story  which  the  agent  had  told  and  calling  upon  all 
those  wrho  sat  before  him  to  search  for  the  guilty  one 
and  report  to  him  if  they  found  him.  His  words 
were  received  in  silence. 

Then  Grayman  rose,  and,  stepping  into  the  circle, 
began  to  speak  in  a  low  and  sorrowful  voice.  Some- 
thing in  his  manner  as  well  as  in  his  words  enlisted 
the  almost  breathless  interest  of  the  crowd.  There 
was  a  tragic  pathos  in  his  voice  as  he  called  out: 
"  You  see  how  it  is,  brothers ;  we  are  like  a  nest  of  ants 
in  a  white  man's  field,  which  he  is  ploughing.  We 
are  only  a  few  and  weak,  while  all  around  us  our 
enemies  press  in  upon  us.  We  have  only  one  friend 
— our  Little  Father.  We  must  do  as  he  says.  We 
must  give  up  a  man  to  the  war  chief  of  the  cow- 
boys. They  will  never  believe  that  any  one  else 

304 


THE  WARRIOR   PROCLAIMS  HIMSELF 

killed  the  sheepman.  The  cattlemen  and  sheepmen 
are  always  quarrelling,  but  they  readily  join  hands 
to  do  the  Tetongs  harm/' 

"It  is  death  to  us  to  fight  the  white  man;  I  know 
it.  Unless  we  all  wish  to  be  shot,  we  must  not  be- 
come angry  this  time ;  we  must  do  as  the  Little  Father 
says,  and  if  we  cannot  find  the  man  who  did  this 
thing,  I  will  go  and  give  myself  into  the  hands  of 
the  white  war  chief/'  A  murmur  of  protest  and  anger 
ran  round  the  circle.  "It  is  better  for  one  to  suffer 
than  many/'  he  said,  in  answer  to  the  protest,  "and 
I  am  old.  My  wife  is  dead.  I  have  but  one  son,  and 
he  is  estranged  from  me.  I  say,  if  we  cannot  find 
who  did  this  thing,  then  I  am  willing  to  go  and  be 
killed  of  the  white  people  in  order  to  keep  the  peace. 
I  have  said  it." 

Standing  Elk  leaped  to  his  feet,  tall,  gaunt,  ex- 
citable. "We  will  not  do  this,"  he  said.  "We  will 
fight  first."  And  among  the  young  warriors  there 
was  applause.  "  The  Tetongs  are  not  dogs  to  be  al- 
ways kicked  in  the  ribs.  I  have  fought  the  white 
man.  I  have  met  'Long  Hair'  and  'Bear  Robe'  in 
battle.  I  am  not  afraid  of  the  cattlemen.  I  am 
old,  but  my  heart  is  yet  big.  Let  us  do  battle  and 
die  like  brave  men." 

Then  Crawling  Elk  rose,  and  his  broad,  good-hu- 
mored face  shone  in  the  sun  like  polished  bronze  as 
he  turned  his  cheek  to  the  wind. 

"The  words  of  my  brother  are  loud  and  quick/'  he 
said,  slowly.  "In  the  ancient  time  it  was  always 
so.  He  was  always  ready  to  fight.  I  was  always 
opposed  to  fighting.  We  must  not  talk  of  fighting 
now ;  all  that  is  put  away.  It  belongs  to  the  suns 

305 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

that  have  gone  over  our  heads.  We  must  now  talk 
of  cattle-herding  and  ploughing.  We  must  strive  al- 
ways to  be  at  peace  with  the  cowboys.  I,  too,  am  old. 
I  have  not  many  years  to  live;  but  you  young  men 
have  a  long  time  to  live,  and  you  cannot  be  always 
quarrelling  with  the  settlers ;  you  must  be  wise  and 
patient.  Our  Little  Father,  Swift  Eagle,  is  our  friend  ; 
you  can  trust  him.  You  can  put  your  hand  in  his 
and  find  it  strong  and  warm.  His  heart  is  good  and 
his  words  are  wise.  If  we  can  find  the  man  who  did 
this  evil  deed,  we  must  give  him  up.  It  is  not  right 
that  all  of  us  should  suffer  for  the  wickedness  of  one 
man.  No,  it  is  not  right  that  we  who  are  old  should 
die  for  one  whose  hands  are  red." 

This  speech  was  also  received  in  silence,  but  plainly 
produced  a  powerful  effect.  Then  one  of  the  men 
who  found  the  body  rose  and  told  what  he  knew  of 
the  case.  "I  do  not  think  a  Tetong  killed  the  man/' 
he  said,  in  conclusion. 

In  this  wise  the  talk  proceeded  for  nearly  two  hours, 
and  then  the  council  rose  to  meet  again  at  sunset,  and 
word  of  what  had  been  said  was  carried  to  Curtis  by 
Crawling  Elk  and  Grayman. 

To  them  Curtis  said :  "  I  am  pleased  with  you.  Go 
over  the  names  of  all  your  reckless  young  men,  and 
when  you  reach  one  you  think  might  do  such  a  deed, 
question  him  and  his  people  closely.  The  shells 
of  the  rifle  were  the  largest  size  —  that  may  help 
you.  Your  old  men  would  not  do  this  thing — their 
heads  are  cool;  but  some  of  your  young  men  have 
hot  hearts  and  may  have  quarrelled  with  this 
herder." 

The  old  men  went  away  very  sorrowful.     Grav- 


THE  WARRIOR  PROCLAIMS  HIMSELF 

man  was  especially  troubled,  because  he  could  not 
help  thinking  all  the  time  of  Cut  Finger,  his  nephew. 

Running  Fox,  or  "  Cut  Finger/'  as  the  white  people 
called  him,  he  knew  to  be  a  morose  and  reckless  young 
man,  and  probably  possessed  of  some  evil  spirit,  for 
at  times  he  was  quite  crazy.  Once  he  had  forced  his 
pony  into  the  cooking-lodge  of  Bear  Paw  for  no  rea- 
son at  all,  and  Bear  Paw,  in  a  rage,  had  snatched  up 
his  rifle  and  fired,  putting  a  bullet  through  the  bridle 
hand  of  Running  Fox,  who  lost  two  fingers  and 
gained  a  new  name.  At  another  time  the  mad  fool 
had  tried  to  force  his  horse  to  leap  a  cliff;  and  once 
he  had  attempted  to  drown  himself ;  and  yet,  between 
these  obsessions,  he  could  be  very  winning,  and  there 
were  many  among  Elk's  band  who  pitied  him.  He  was 
comely  withal,  and  had  married  a  handsome  girl,  the 
daughter  of  Standing  Wolf.  It  was  easy  to  imagine 
that  Cut  Finger  was  the  guilty  one,  and  yet  to  think 
of  him  was  to  think  of  his  son's  intimate  friend. 

When  he  reached  his  tepee  Grayman  lit  his  pipe 
and  sat  down  alone  and  remained  in  deep  thought 
for  hours.  He  feared  to  find  Cut  Finger  guilty,  for 
his  own  son  was  Cut  Finger's  friend,  or  fellow,  and 
that  means  the  closest  intimacy.  There  are  no  secrets 
between  a  Tetong  and  his  chum.  "If  Cut  Finger  is 
guilty,  then  my  son  knows  of  it.  That  I  fear." 

When  any  one  came  to  the  door  he  motioned  them 
away ;  even  his  daughter  dared  not  enter,  for  she  saw 
him  in  meditation.  As  he  smoked  he  made  offering  to 
the  Great  Spirit,  and  prayed  that  he  might  be  shown 
the  right  way,  and  his  heart  was  greatly  troubled. 

Crawling  Elk,  with  a  half-dozen  of  his  head  men, 
was  seated  in  his  tepee,  calmly  discussing  the  same 

307 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

question.  The  canvas  of  his  lodge  was  raised,  as 
much  to  insure  privacy  as  to  let  the  wind  sweep 
through.  It  was  not  easy  to  accuse  any  man  of  this 
crime,  or  even  to  suggest  the  name  of  any  one  as  capa- 
ble of  such  a  foolish  deed  of  blood.  For  relationships 
were  close ;  therefore  it  was  that  he,  too,  narrowed  the 
investigation  down  to  Cut  Finger.  It  is  easier  to  ac- 
cuse the  son  of  a  neighbor  than  your  own  son,  es- 
pecially if  that  other  is  already  a  marked  man  among 
reckless  youths. 

At  five  o'clock  Grayman  called  his  daughter  and 
said,  "Send  my  sister,  Standing  Cloud,  to  me." 

Standing  Cloud  came  and  took  a  seat  on  the  out- 
side of  the  tepee — on  the  side  where  the  canvas  was 
fastened  up — and  there  sat  with  bent  head,  her  fingers 
busy  with  blades  of  grass,  while  her  brother  questioned 
her.  She  was  a  large  and  comely  woman  of  middle 
age.  Her  expression  was  still  youthful,  and  her  voice 
had  girlish  lightness.  She  was  at  once  deeply  moved 
by  her  brother's  questions.  She  did  not  know  where 
her  son  was ;  he  had  not  been  to  see  her  for  several 
days.  She  understood  whereto  the  questioning  tend- 
ed, and  stoutly  denied  that  her  son  would  do  so  evil  a 
deed.  Nevertheless,  Grayman  was  compelled  to  say : 

"You  know  he  has  a  bad  head,"  and  he  made  the 
confused,  wavering  sign  of  the  hand  which  signifies 
crazy  or  foolish,  and  the  mother  rose  and  went  away 
sobbing. 

Then  Grayman  recalled  the  words  of  the  Little 
Father.  "  If  my  own  brother  should  do  wrong,  I  would 
give  him  up  to  the  war  chief/'  he  therefore  said.  "If 
my  son  and  my  sister's  son  are  guilty,  I  will  give  them 
up/'  and  he  rose  and  sought  out  Crawling  Elk  and 

308 


THE  WARRIOR  PROCLAIMS  HIMSELF 

told  him  of  his  fears,  and  repeated  his  resolution  as 
they  sat  together  while  the  sun  was  going  down  and 
the  crier  was  calling  the  second  council. 

"It  is  right/'  said  Elk.  "Those  who  are  guilty 
must  be  punished;  but  we  do  not  know  who  fired  the 
shot." 

The  people  were  slow  in  coming  together  this  sec- 
ond time,  and  darkness  was  falling  as  the  head  men 
again  took  their  seats.  A  small  fire  was  being  built 
in  the  centre  of  the  circle,  and  towards  this  at  last, 
like  nocturnal  insects,  the  larger  number  of  the  peo- 
ple in  the  two  camps  slowly  concentrated. 

The  wind  had  gone  down  and  the  night  was  dark 
and  still  and  warm.  The  people  gathered  in  com- 
parative silence,  though  the  laugh  of  a  girl  occasion- 
ally broke  from  the  clustering  masses  of  the  women, 
to  be  followed  by  a  mutter  of  jests  from  the  young  men 
who  stood  close  packed  behind  the  older  members  of 
the  bands.  Excitement  had  deepened  since  the  morn- 
ing, for  in  some  way  the  news  had  passed  from  lip  to 
lip  that  Grayman  had  discovered  the  evil-doer. 

On  their  part  the  chieftains  were  slow  to  begin 
their  painful  task.  They  smoked  in  silence  till  the 
fire  was  twice  replenished,  then  began  talking  in 
low  tones  among  themselves.  At  last  Crawling  Elk 
arose  and  made  a  speech  similar  to  that  of  the  morning. 
He  recounted  the  tale  of  the  murdered  white  man,  and 
the  details  of  finding  the  body,  and  ended  by  saying : 
"  We  are  commanded  by  the  agent  to  find  the  ones 
who  have  done  this  evil  deed.  If  any  one  knows 
anything  about  this,  let  him  come  forward  and  speak. 
It  is  not  right  that  we  should  all  suffer  for  the  wrong- 
doing of  some  reckless  young  warriors/' 

309 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"Come  forth  and  speak,  any  one  who  knows/' 
called  the  head  men,  looking  round  the  circle.  "  He 
who  remains  silent  does  wrong/' 

Two  Horns  rose.  "We  mean  you,  young  men — 
you  too/'  he  said,  turning  to  the  women.  "If  any 
of  you  have  heard  anything  of  this  matter,  speak!" 

Then  the  silence  fell  again  on  the  circle  of  old  men, 
and  they  bent  their  heads  in  meditation.  Crawling 
Elk  was  just  handing  the  pipe  to  Grayman,  in  order 
to  rise,  when  a  low  mutter  and  a  jostling  caused 
every  glance  to  centre  upon  one  side  of  the  circle, 
and  then,  decked  in  war-paint,  gay  with  beads  and 
feathers,  and  carrying  a  rifle,  Cut  Finger  stepped 
silently  and  haughtily  into  the  circle  and  stood  mo- 
tionless as  a  statue,  his  tall  figure  erect  and  rigid  as 
an  oak. 

A  moaning  sound  swept  over  the  assembly,  and 
every  eye  was  fixed  on  the  young  man.  "Aheel 
Ahee!"  the  women  wailed,  in  astonishment  and  fear; 
two  or  three  began  a  low,  sad  chant,  and  death  seem- 
ed to  stretch  a  black  wing  over  the  council.  By  his 
weapons,  by  his  war-paint,  by  his  bared  head  decked 
with  eagle-plumes,  and  by  the  haughty  lift  of  his  face, 
Cut  Finger  proclaimed  louder  than  words : 

"  I  am  the  man  who  killed  the  herder." 

Standing  so,  he  began  to  sing  a  stern  song  : 

"  I  alone  killed  him — the  white  man. 
He  was  a  thief  and  I  killed  him. 
No  one  helped  me;  I  alone  fired  the  shot. 
He  will  drive  his  sheep  no  more  on  Tetong  lands. 
This  dog  of  a  herder. 
He  lies  there  in  the  short  grass. 
It  was  I,  Cut  Finger,  who  did  it." 
310 


THE  WARRIOR   PROCLAIMS  HIMSELF 

As  his  chant  died  away  he  turned :  "  I  go  to  the 
hills  to  fight  and  die  like  a  man/'  And  before  the 
old  men  could  stay  him  he  had  vanished  among  the 
young  horsemen  of  the  outer  circle,  and  a  moment 
later  the  loud  drumming  of  his  pony's  hoofs  could 
be  heard  as  he  rode  away. 

Curtis  was  sitting  alone  in  the  library  when  a  tap 
at  his  window  announced  the  presence  of  Gray- 
man. 

Following  a  gesture,  the  chieftain  came  in,  and, 
with  a  look  on  his  face  which  expressed  high  resolu- 
tion and  keen  sorrow,  he  said : 

"  The  man  who  killed  the  herder  is  found.  He  has 
proclaimed  himself  at  our  council,  and  he  has  ridden 
away  into  the  hills/' 

"Who  was  he?" 

"Cut  Finger/' 

"Ah!  So?  Well,  you  have  done  your  duty.  I 
will  not  ask  you  to  arrest  him.  Crow  will  do  that. 
I  hope"  —  he  hesitated  —  "I  hope  your  son  was  not 
with  him?" 

"I  alone  did  it/  he  says.     My  son  is  innocent." 

"I  am  very  glad,"  replied  Curtis,  looking  into  the 
old  man's  tremulous  face.  "Go  home  and  sleep  in 
peace." 

With  a  clasp  of  the  hand  Grayman  said  good-night 
and  vanished. 

There  was  nothing  to  be  done  till  morning,  and 
Curtis  knew  the  habits  of  the  Indians  too  well  to  be 
anxious  about  the  criminal.  Calling  his  faithful 
Crane's  Voice,  he  said : 

"  Crane,  will  you  go  to  Pinon  City?" 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

Crane's  Voice  straightened.     "  To-night?" 

"Yes,  to-night." 

"  If  you  will  let  me  wear  a  blue  coat  I  will  go." 

Curtis  smiled.  "  You  are  a  brave  boy.  I  will  give 
you  a  coat.  That  will  protect  you  if  you  are  caught 
by  the  white  men.  Saddle  your  pony." 

With  a  smile  he  turned  on  his  heel  and  went  out 
as  cheerfully  as  though  he  were  going  on  an  errand 
to  the  issue-house. 

In  his  letter  to  the  sheriff  Curtis  said :  "  I  have  found 
the  murderer.  He  is  a  half-crazy  boy  called  Cut 
Finger.  Make  out  a  warrant  for  him  and  I  will  de- 
liver him  to  you.  You  will  need  no  deputies.  No 
one  but  yourself  will  be  permitted  to  cross  the  line 
for  the  present." 

After  Crane  had  galloped  off,  Curtis  laid  down  his 
pen  and  sat  for  a  long  time  recalling  the  events  of  the 
evening.  He  remembered  that  Lawson  and  Elsie 
went  away  together,  and  a  pang  of  jealous  pain 
took  hold  upon  him.  "I  never  had  the  privilege  of 
taking  her  arm,"  he  thought,  unreasonably. 


XXVII 

BRISBANE  COMES  FOR  ELSIE 

AilONG  other  perplexities  which  now  assailed  the 
agent  was  the  question  of  how  to  secure  Cut 
Finger  without  inciting  further  violence.  He  con- 
fidently expected  the  police  to  locate  the  fugitive  dur- 
ing the  day,  probably  in  the  camp  of  Red  Wolf,  on 
the  head-waters  of  the  Elk. 

"He  cannot  escape.     There  is  no  place  for  him  to 

go." 

"He  may  have  committed  suicide,"  said  Wilson, 
discussing  the  matter  with  his  chief  the  following 
morning. 

"  He  may,  but  his  death  will  not  satisfy  the  ranch- 
ers unless  they  are  made  the  instrument  of  ven- 
geance. They  would  feel  cheated  and  bitterer  than 
ever/'  replied  Curtis,  sombrely.  "He  must  be  taken 
and  delivered  up  to  the  law." 

On  his  return  to  the  office  after  breakfast  Curtis 
stopped  at  the  door  of  Elsie's  studio,  his  brain  yet 
tingling  with  the  consciousness  that  no  other  man's 
claim  stood  between  them  now. 

She  greeted  him  joyously.  "I  am  starting  a  big 
canvas  this  morning/'  she  said.  "Come  in  and  see 
it." 

He  stepped  inside  to  see,  but  the  canvas  only  had 

313 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

a  few  rude,  reddish  lines  upon  it,  and  Elsie  laughed 
at  his  blank  look  as  he  faced  the  easel. 

"This  thing  here/'  she  pointed  with  her  brush,  "is 
a  beautiful  purple  butte;  this  yellow  circle  is  the 
sun;  these  little  crumbly  looking  boxes  are  trees; 
this  streak  is  a  river.  This  jack-in-the-box  here  is 
Crow  Wing  on  his  horse." 

Her  joking  helped  to  clear  his  brain,  though  his 
blood  was  throbbing  in  his  ears. 

"Ah!  I'm  glad  to  know  all  that.  Will  you  tag 
each  anomalous  hump?" 

"Certainly.  You  will  recognize  everything  by 
number  or  otherwise/'  She  turned  a  suddenly  seri- 
ous face  upon  him.  "I  am  determined  to  get  back 
to  work.  These  last  few  days  have  been  so  excit- 
ing. Is  there  any  news?" 

"Yes.  The  murderer  proclaimed  himself  at  a  big 
council  last  night." 

"He  did!     Oh,  tell  me  about  it!     When?" 

"I  don't  know  exactly  the  hour,  but  the  chief- 
tains came  to  me  about  nine  o'clock.  I  know  him 
well;  he  is  a  reckless,  handsome,  half-crazy  young 
man — "  He  broke  off  suddenly  as  Heavybreast,  one 
of  the  policemen,  profoundly  excited,  darkened  the 
door-way.  "Cut  Finger  is  on  the  hill,"  he  signed, 
and  pointed  away  with  trembling  finger  to  a  height 
which  rose  like  a  monstrous  bee-hive  just  behind  the 
school-house.  On  the  rounded  top,  looking  like  a 
small  monument  on  a  colossal  pedestal,  sat  a  mount- 
ed warrior. 

"What  is  he  there  for?"  asked  Curtis. 

"He  wants  to  die  like  Raven  Face.  He  wants  to 
fight  the  cowboys,  he  says.  He  don't  want  to  hurt 


BRISBANE  COMES  FOR  ELSIE 

any  one  else,  he  says;  only  the  cowboys  and  their 
war  chief,  so  he  says/' 

"Where  is  Crow?  I  want  this  man  arrested  and 
brought  to  me." 

"Now  he  will  shoot  any  one  who  goes  up  the  hill; 
he  has  said  so.  All  the  people  are  watching/' 

Curtis  mused  a  moment.  "Can  you  send  word 
to  him?" 

"Yes;  his  wife  is  here." 

"Then  tell  him  I  will  not  let  him  fight.  Tell  him 
that  shooting  will  do  no  good,  and  that  I  want  him  to 
come  down  and  see  me." 

The  officer  trotted  away. 

"What  did  he  say?"  asked  Elsie.  "What  is  that 
man  on  the  hill  for?" 

"That  is  Cut  Finger,  the  guilty  man.  He  pro- 
claimed himself  the  murderer  last  night  and  now  he 
is  willing  to  die,  but  wants  to  die  on  his  horse." 

The  whole  agency  was  again  tremulous  with  ex- 
citement. The  teachers,  the  scholars,  the  native 
employes  were  all  gathered  into  chattering  groups 
with  eyes  fixed  on  the  motionless  figure  of  the  des- 
perate horseman,  and  in  the  camps  above  the  agency 
an  almost  frenzied  excitement  was  spreading.  The 
stark  bravery  of  the  boy's  attitude  had  kindled  anew 
the  flame  of  war,  and  behind  Cut  Finger  on  the  hills 
two  groups  of  mounted  warriors  had  gathered  sud- 
denly. Several  of  the  more  excitable  old  women 
broke  into  a  war-song,  whose  wail  came  faintly  to 
the  ears  of  the  agent. 

"Two  Horns,  silence  those  singers,"  said  Curtis, 
sternly. 

Elsie  and  Jennie  and  the  Parkers  joined  the  group 
315 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

around  the  agent,  and  Miss  Colson,  the  missionary, 
came  flying  for  refuge  at  the  side  of  her  hero. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do?"  asked  Parker.  "If 
the  fellow  really  means  to  shoot,  of  course  no  man 
can  go  up  to  him.  You  might  send  some  soldiers." 

"Silence  in  the  ranks!"  commanded  Maynard, 
and,  though  he  smiled  as  he  said  it,  Parker  realized 
his  mistake.  He  turned  to  Elsie  and  his  wife.  "I 
tell  you,  we'd  better  get  out  of  here.  I  feel  just  like 
a  man  sitting  on  a  powder-mine.  There's  no  telling 
what's  going  to  happen  next." 

Lawson  turned  towards  him  with  a  sarcastic  grin. 
"I  wish  I'd  realized  the  state  of  your  nerves,  Parker; 
I  should  have  invited  you  to  Asbury  Beach  instead 
of  the  Indian  country." 

Maynard  brought  his  field-glasses  to  bear  on  the 
desperado.  "He  has  dismounted,"  he  said.  "He 
is  squatted  beside  his  horse,  the  bridle-rein  on  his 
arm,  a  rifle  across  his  knees,  and  is  faced  this  way. 
His  attitude  is  resolute  and  '  sassy. ' ' 

Curtis  quietly  said:  "Now,  friends,  I  wish  you 
would  all  go  in  and  pay  no  further  attention  to  this 
man.  Miss  Colson,  go  back  to  your  work.  So  long 
as  he  sees  us  looking  at  him  he  will  maintain  his 
defiant  attitude.  He  will  grow  wreary  of  his  bravado 
if  ignored.  ' 

"Quite  right,  Captain,"  replied  Lawson,  and  the 
little  knot  of  visitors  broke  up  and  dispersed  to  shel- 
tered points  of  observation. 

Under  the  same  gentle  pressure  the  employe's  went 
back  to  work,  and  the  self  -  convicted  warrior  was 
left  to  defy  the  wind  and  the  sky.  Even  the  Te- 
tongs  themselves  grew  tired  of  looking  when  noth- 

316 


BRISBANE  COMES  FOR  ELSIE 

ing  seemed  likely  to  happen,  and  the  forenoon  wore 
away  as  usual,  well  filled  with  duties.  Maynard's 
men  got  out  for  drill  an  hour  later,  and  their  bugle's 
voice  pulsed  upward  to  the  silent  and  motionless 
watcher  on  the  hill  like  mocking  laughter.  The 
clink  of  the  anvil  also  rose  to  him  on  the  hot,  dry 
air,  and  just  beneath  him  the  children  came  forth 
at  recess  to  play.  He  became  tired  of  sitting  on  the 
ground  at  last,  and  again  mounted  his  horse,  but 
no  one  at  the  agency  seemed  to  know  or  to  care. 
The  sun  beat  remorselessly  upon  his  head,  and  his 
throat  became  parched  with  thirst.  Slowly  but  sure- 
ly the  exaltation  of  the  morning  ebbed  away  and  a 
tremulous  weakness  seized  upon  him,  so  that,  when 
his  wife  came  bringing  meat  and  water,  he  who  had 
never  expected  to  eat  or  drink  again  seized  upon 
the  food  and  ate  greedily. 

Then,  while  she  sat  on  the  ground  and  repeated 
the  agent's  message,  he  stood  beside  his  horse,  sul- 
len and  wordless.  The  bell  rang  for  noon,  and  as 
the  children  came  rushing  out  they  pointed  up  at 
him  again,  and  the  teachers  also  stood  in  a  group 
for  a  moment,  with  faces  turned  upward,  but  only 
for  a  moment,  then  went  carelessly  away  to  their 
meals. 

An  hour  passed,  the  work-bell  rang,  the  clerks  re- 
turned to  their  duties,  and  the  agent  walked  slowly 
across  the  road  towards  the  office.  Cut  Finger  lifted 
his  rifle  and  pointed  it.  "I  could  shoot  him  now/' 
he  muttered.  "  But  he  is  a  good  man ;  I  do  not  want 
to  kill  him."  Then  the  heat  and  silence  settled  over 
hill  and  valley,  and  no  sound  but  the  buzzing  of  flies 
and  the  clatter  of  grasshoppers  broke  the  hot,  brood- 

317 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

ing  hush  of  the  mid-day.  The  wind  was  from  the 
plain  and  brought  no  coolness  on  its  wings. 

But  he  was  not  entirely  forgotten.  Elsie,  from  her 
studio  door,  kept  close  watch  upon  him.  "  There's 
something  fine  about  him  after  all/'  she  said  to 
Curtis. 

"  It's  like  the  old  Mosaic  times — an  eye  for  an  eye. 
He  knows  he  must  die  for  this,  but  he  prefers  to  die 
gloriously,  as  a  warrior  dies/' 

A  dust  down  the  road  caught  Curtis's  attention. 
"The  mail  will  soon  be  in  and  then  we  will  see  how 
all  this  affects  the  press  of  the  State;  the  Chicago 
dailies  will  not  reach  us  for  a  couple  of  days  yet." 

"Send  the  papers  over  here,  please!"  cried  Elsie, 
"I'm  wild  to  see  them." 

"  Why  not  all  assemble  at '  the  parsonage '  and  I'll 
bring  them  there?" 

"  Very  well ;  that  will  do  as  well,"  she  replied.  "  It 
will  be  such  a  joy  to  read  our  obituaries." 

As  he  entered  the  library  with  his  armful  of  papers 
a  half -hour  later  Curtis  exclaimed :  "  Well,  now,  here 
is  a  feast!  The  commotion  on  the  outside  is  prodig- 
ious. Here  are  the  Copper  City  and  Alta  papers,  and 
a  dozen  lesser  'lights  and  signals  of  progress'  in 
the  State.  Help  yourselves."  He  took  out  a  handful 
of  letters  and  telegrams.  "  And  here  are  the  prayers 
of  anxious  relatives.  A  telegram  for  you,  Miss  Bris- 
bane; and  two  for  you,  Lawson." 

Elsie's  message  from  her  father  was  brief.  "  Have 
no  word  from  you ;  am  en  route  for  Pinon  City.  Not 
finding  you  there  will  cross  to  agency  at  once.  Why 
do  you  not  come  out?" 

Looking  at  the  date  she  said:  "Papa  is  corning; 


BRISBANE  COMES  FOR  ELSIE 

he  is  probably  on  his  way  to  the  agency  at  this  mo- 
ment/' 

Curtis  looked  a  little  troubled.  "I  hope  not;  the 
roads  are  dusty  and  the  sun  is  hot." 

"  By  George!  this  is  fierce  stuff/'  said  Parker,  look- 
ing up  from  his  paper. 

"Cut  Finger  has  left  the  hill/'  announced  Jennie 
from  the  door- way;  "he  is  nowhere  to  be  seen." 

"Now  he  will  submit  to  arrest/'  exclaimed  Curtis. 
"His  fine  frenzy  is  gone." 

"  I'm  sorry/'  Elsie  soberly  exclaimed.  "  Must  you 
give  him  up  to  that  stupid  sheriff?" 

"Yes,  it  must  be  done/'  replied  Curtis.  "My  only 
claim  to  consideration  lies  in  executing  the  law.  I 
fought  lawlessness  with  the  promise  that  when  the 
sheriff  came  with  proper  warrant  I  would  act." 

As  the  young  officer  went  back  to  his  duties  the 
head-lines  of  the  papers  he  had  but  glanced  at  be- 
gan to  burn  into  his  brain.  Hitherto  his  name  had 
been  most  inconspicuous ;  only  once  or  twice  had  it 
achieved  a  long-primer  setting;  mainly  it  had  kept 
to  the  security  and  dignity  of  brevier  notices  in  the 
Army  and  Navy  Journal.  Now  here  it  stood,  bla- 
zoned in  ill-smelling  ink  on  wood-pulp  paper,  in  let- 
ters half  an  inch  in  height : 

CURTIS    CULPABLE 

THE  AGENT  SHIELDS  HIS  PETS 

while  in  the  editorial  columns  of  the  Copper  City 
papers  similar  accusations,  though  adroitly  veiled, 
were  none  the  less  apparent.  He  had  smiled  at  all 
this  in  the  presence  of  his  friends,  but  inwardly  he 

319 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

shrank  from  it  just  as  he  would  have  done  had  some 
tramp  in  the  street  flung  a  handful  of  gutter  slime 
across  the  breast  of  his  uniform.  A  gust  of  rage  made 
his  teeth  clinch  and  his  face  burn  hot,  and  he  entered 
his  office  with  lowering  brows. 

Wilson  looked  up  with  a  grin.  "  Well,  Major,  the 
politicians  are  getting  in  their  work  on  us." 

"This  is  only  the  beginning.  We  may  expect  an 
army  of  reporters  to  complete  the  work  of  misrepre- 
sentation." 

"  The  wonder  is  they  haven't  got  here  before.  They 
must  be  really  nervous.  Crane  says  the  people  in 
town  have  very  bad  hearts.  As  near  as  I  can  make 
out  they  faced  him  up  and  threatened  his  life.  He 
says  the  mob  is  hanging  round  the  edge  of  the  reser- 
vation crazy  for  blood.  He  got  shy  and  took  to  the 
hills." 

"Did  he  see  the  sheriff?" 

"Yes,  the  sheriff  is  on  the  way." 

"Is  Crane  still  asleep?" 

"  Yes.  He  didn't  wait  for  grub ;  he  dropped  like  a 
log  and  is  dead  to  the  wx>rld." 

"Poor  chap!  I  shouldn't  have  sent  him  on  this 
last  trip.  Where  is  Tony?" 

"  Tony's  out  in  the  hills  to  keep  an  eye  on  Cut  Fin- 
ger. Will  you  go  after  him  to-night?" 

"  No,  not  till  morning.  The  police  will  locate  him 
and  stay  with  him  to-night,  and  to-morrow  morning 
I  will  go  out  and  get  him  myself.  I  don't  want  any 
shooting,  if  it  can  be  avoided.  What  is  it,  Heavy- 
breast?"  he  asked  of  a  large  Tetong  who  entered  at 
the  moment,  his  eyes  bright  with  information. 

"White  man  coming,"  signed  the  redman. 
320 


BRISBANE  COMES   FOR  ELSIE 

Curtis  rose  and  went  to  the  door  and  looked  down 
the  road. 

Three  carriages  were  passing  the  issue -house — 
one  a  rather  pretentious  family  surrey,  the  others 
ordinary  mountain  wagons.  In  the  hinder  seat  of  the 
surrey,  and  beside  the  sheriff,  sat  a  gray-haired  man. 

"It  is  Senator  Brisbane!"  said  Curtis  to  Wilson, 
and  a  keen  pang  of  anticipated  loss  came  to  him,  for 
he  knew  that  Brisbane  had  come  to  take  his  daugh- 
ter away.  But  his  face  was  calm  as  he  went  down 
to  the  gate  to  meet  his  distinguished  and  powerful 
enemy. 

The  ex-Senator  was  hot,  weary,  and  angry.  He 
had  arrived  in  Pinon  City  on  the  early  train,  just  as 
the  county  attorney  and  the  sheriff  were  about  to  set 
forth.  A  few  words  with  these  officials  assuaged  his 
anxiety  for  his  daughter  but  increased  his  irritation 
towards  Curtis.  Leaving  orders  for  another  team  to 
follow,  he  had  taken  passage  with  the  sheriff,  an 
action  he  regretted  at  once.  The  seats  were  too  low 
and  too  narrow  for  his  vast  bulk,  and  his  knees  grew 
weary.  The  wind  came  from  the  plain  hot  and  in- 
solent, bringing  no  relief  to  the  lungs ;  on  the  con- 
trary, it  filled  his  eyes  and  ears  with  dust  and  parched 
the  skin  like  a  furnace  blast.  Altogether  the  con- 
ditions of  his  ride  had  been  torturing  to  the  great 
man,  and  he  had  ridden  the  latter  part  of  it  in  grim 
silence,  mentally  execrating  both  Lawson  and  Curtis 
for  luring  his  daughter  so  far  from  civilization. 

No  one  spoke  till  the  agent,  pacing  calmly  down  to 
the  gate,  stepped  into  the  road  and  said : 

"Good-evening,  gentlemen,  will  you  get  out  and 
come  in?" 

321 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

Even  then  Brisbane  made  no  reply,  but  the  sheriff 
spoke  up :  "I  suppose  we'll  have  to.  This  is  Senator 
Brisbane,  Major.  He  was  very  anxious  about  his 
daughter  and  so  came  in  with  me.  This  is  Mr.  Gris- 
more,  our  county  attorney." 

Curtis  bowed  slightly.  "Mr.  Grismore  I  have 
seen.  Senator  Brisbane  I  have  met.  Send  your 
horses  down  to  the  corral,  sheriff,  and  come  in;  you 
can't  return  to-night." 

As  the  sheriff  got  out  he  said :  "  This  second  team 
is  the  Senator's,  and  the  reporter  for  the  Associated 
Press  is  in  there  with  Stieeter." 

Brisbane  got  out  slowly  and  painfully,  and  a  yel- 
low-gray pallor  came  into  his  face  as  he  stood  be- 
side the  carriage  steadying  himself  by  resting  his 
hand  on  the  wheel.  The  young  county  attorney, 
eager  to  serve  the  great  politician,  sprang  out  and 
offered  a  hand,  and  Curtis,  with  sudden  pity  in  his 
heart,  made  a  step  forward,  but  Brisbane  put  them 
both  aside  harshly. 

"No,  no!  I'm  all  right  now.  My  legs  were 
cramped — that's  all.  They'll  limber  up  in  a  minute. 
The  seats  were  too  low  for  a  man  of  my  height.  I 
should  have  stayed  in  the  other  carriage." 

After  all  he  was  Elsie's  father,  and  Curtis  re- 
lented: "Senator,  if  you'll  take  a  seat  in  my  office, 
I'll  go  fetch  your  daughter." 

"I  prefer  to  go  to  her  myself,"  Brisbane  replied, 
menacingly  formal.  "Where  is  she?" 

"I  will  show  you  if  you  will  permit;"  Curtis  coldly 
replied,  and  set  out  to  cross  the  road. 

The  old  man  hobbled  painfully  at  first,  but  soon 
recovered  enough  of  his  habitual  power  to  follow 

322 


BRISBANE  COMES  FOR  ELSIE 

Curtis,  who  did  not  wait,  for  he  wished  to  have  a  pri- 
vate word  with  Elsie  before  her  father  came.  She 
was  lying  down  as  he  knocked,  resting,  waiting  for 
the  dinner  call. 

''Your  father  is  here/'  he  said,  as  she  opened  the 
door. 

Her  face  expressed  surprise,  not  pleasure. 

"  Here  1     Here  at  the  agency?" 

"Yes,  and  on  his  way  to  the  studio.  Moreover, 
he  is  very  dirty,  very  disgusted,  very  crusty,  and 
not  at  all  well." 

"Poor  old  father!  Now  he'll  make  it  uncom- 
fortable for  us  all.  He  has  come  for  me,  of  course. 
Who  is  with  him?" 

"The  sheriff,  the  county  attorney,  and  some  re- 
porters." 

She  smiled.     "  Then  he  is  '  after  you/  too." 

"It  looks  that  way.  But  you  must  not  go  away 
without  giving  me  another  chance  to  talk  with 
you.  Will  you  promise  that?"  he  demanded,  ab- 
ruptly, passionately.  "I  have  something  to  say  to 
you." 

"  I  dare  not  promise,"  she  responded,  and  her  words 
chilled  him  even  more  than  her  action  as  she  turned 
away  to  the  door.  "  How  slowly  he  walks !  Poor  old 
papa!  You  shouldn't  have  done  this,  popsey,"  she 
cried,  as  she  met  him  with  a  kiss  on  his  cheek. 

Curtis  walked  away,  leaving  them  alone,  a  hand 
of  ice  at  his  heart. 

Brisbane  took  her  kiss  without  changing  to 
lighter  mood. 

"Why  didn't  you  follow  out  my  orders?"  he  de- 
manded, harshly.  "You  see  what  I've  had  to  go 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

through  just  because  you  are  so  foolishly  obstinate. 
That  ride  is  enough  to  kill  a  man." 

Her  throat  swelled  with  anger,  but  she  choked  it 
down  and  replied  very  gently.  "Come  into  the 
studio  and  let  me  clean  off  the  dust.  I'm  sorry." 

He  followed  her  in  and  sank  heavily  upon  a  chair. 
"I  wouldn't  take  that  journey  again  for  ten  thou- 
sand dollars.  Why  didn't  you  come  to  the  railway 
as  I  ordered?" 

"Because  I  saw  no  good  reason  for  it.  I  knew 
what  I  was  doing.  Captain  Curtis  assured  me — " 

"Captain  Curtis!"  he  sneered.  "You'd  take  his 
word  against  mine,  would  you?" 

"Yes,  I  would,  for  he  is  on  the  ground  and  knows 
all  the  conditions.  He  has  the  outbreak  well  in  hand. 
You  have  seen  only  the  outside  exaggeration  of  it. 
He  has  acted  with  honor  and  good  judgment — " 

"Oh,  he  has,  has  he?  Well,  we'll  see  about  that!" 
His  mind  had  taken  a  new  turn.  "He  won't  have 
anything  in  his  hand  six  months  from  now.  No 
West  Point  dude  like  him  can  set  himself  up  against 
the  power  of  this  State  and  live." 

"Now,  papa,  don't  start  in  to  abuse  Captain  Cur- 
tis; he  is  our  host,  and  it  isn't  seemly." 

"Oh,  it  isn't!  Well,  I  don't  care  whether  it  is  or 
is  not;  I  shall  speak  my  mind.  His  whole  attitude 
has  been  hostile  to  the  best  interests  of  the  State, 
and  he  must  get  off  his  high  horse." 

As  he  growled  and  sneered  his  way  through  a 
long  diatribe,  she  brought  water  and  bathed  his  face 
and  hands  and  brushed  his  hair,  her  anger  melting 
into  pity  as  she  comprehended  how  weak  and  broken 
he  was.  She  had  observed  it  before  in  times  of  great 

324 


BRISBANE   COMES  FOR  ELSIE 

fatigue,  but  the  heat  and  dust  and  discomfort  of  the 
drive  had  reduced  the  big  body,  debilitated  by  lack 
of  exercise,  to  a  nerveless  lump,  his  brain  to  a  mass 
of  incoherent  and  savage  impulses.  No  matter  what 
he  said  thereafter,  she  realized  his  pitiable  weakness 
and  felt  no  anger. 

As  he  rested  he  grew  calmer,  and  at  last  con- 
sented to  lie  down  wrhile  she  made  a  little  tea  on  an 
alcohol  lamp.  After  sipping  the  tea  he  fell  asleep, 
and  she  sat  by  his  side,  her  mind  filled  with  the  fun- 
damental conception  of  a  daughter's  obligation  to 
her  sire.  To  her  he  was  no  longer  a  great  politician, 
no  longer  a  powerful,  aggressive  business  man — he 
was  only  her  poor,  old,  dying  father,  to  whom  she 
owed  her  every  comfort,  her  education,  her  jewels, 
her  art.  He  had  never  been  a  companion  to  her — 
his  had  been  the  rule  absolute — and  yet  a  hundred 
indulgences,  a  hundred  really  kind  and  considerate 
acts  came  thronging  to  her  mind  as  she  fanned  his 
flushed  face. 

"I  must  go  with  him,"  she  said;  "it  is  my  duty." 

Curtis  came  to  the  door  again  and  tapped.  She 
put  her  finger  to  her  lips,  and  so  he  stood  silent, 
looking  in  at  her.  His  eyes  called  her  and  she  rose 
and  tiptoed  to  the  door. 

"I  came  to  ask  you  both  to  dinner/'  he  whispered. 

Her  eyes  filled  with  quick  tears.  "  That's  good 
of  you,"  she  returned,  in  a  low  voice.  "But  he  would 
not  come.  He's  only  a  poor,  old,  broken  man,  after 
all."  Her  voice  was  apologetic  in  tone.  "I  hope 
you  will  not  be  angry."  They  both  stood  looking 
down  at  him.  "He  has  failed  terribly  in  the  last 
few  weeks.  His  campaigning  will  kill  him.  I  wish 

325 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

he  would  give  it  up.  He  needs  rest  and  quiet.  What 
can  I  do?" 

Curtis,  looking  upon  the  livid  old  man,  inert  and 
lumpish,  yet  venerable  because  of  his  white  hairs — 
and  because  he  was  the  sire  of  his  love — experienced 
a  sudden  melting  of  his  own  resolution.  His  throat 
choked,  but  he  said : 

"Go  with  him.     He  needs  you." 

At  the  moment  words  were  unnecessary.  She 
understood  his  deeper  meaning,  and  lifted  her  hand 
to  him.  He  took  it  in  both  his.  "  It  may  be  a  long 
time  before  I  shall  see  you  again.  I — I  ought  not — " 
he  struggled  with  himself  and  ceased  to  speak. 

Her  eyes  wavered  and  she  withdrew  her  hand. 
"My  duty  is  with  him  now;  perhap*  I  can  carry  him 
through  his  campaign,  or  dissuade  him  altogether. 
Don't  you  see  that  I  am  right?" 

He  drew  himself  up  as  though  his  general-in-chief 
were  passing.  "Duty  is  a  word  I  can  understand/' 
he  said,  and  turned  away. 


XXVIII 

A  WALK  IN  THE  STARLIGHT 

HAVING  no  further  pretext  for  calling  upon  her, 
Curb's  thought  of  Elsie  as  of  a  strain  of  music 
which  had  passed.  He  was  rather  silent  at  dinner, 
but  not  noticeably  so,  for  Maynard  absorbed  most  of 
the  time  and  attention  of  those  present.  At  the  first 
opportunity  he  returned  to  his  papers,  and  was  deep 
in  work  when  Jennie  came  in  to  tell  him  that  Elsie 
was  coming  over  to  stay  the  night. 

"She  has  given  up  her  bed  to  her  father,  and  so 
she  will  sleep  here.  Go  over  about  nine  and  get  her/' 

If  she  knew  how  deeply  this  command  moved  him, 
she  was  considerate  enough  to  make  no  comment. 
"  Very  well,  sis/'  he  replied,  quietly.  "  As  soon  as  I 
finish  this  letter/' 

But  he  did  not  finish  the  letter — did  not  even  com- 
plete the  sentence  with  which  his  pen  was  engaged 
when  Jennie  interrupted  him.  After  she  went  out 
he  sat  in  silence  and  in  complete  immobility  for 
nearly  an  hour.  At  last  he  rose  and  went  out  into 
the  warm  and  windless  night. 

When  he  entered  the  studio  he  found  her  seated 
upon  one  trunk  and  surveying  another. 
^  "This  looks  like  flight/'  he  said. 
*  "  Yes ;  papa  insists  on  our  going  early  to-morrow 

327 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

morning.  Isn't  it  preposterous!  I  can  only  pack 
my  clothing.  He  says  the  trouble  is  only  beginning, 
and  that  I  must  not  remain  here  another  day." 

"I  have  come  to  fetch  you  to  Jennie/' 

"  I  will  be  ready  presently.  I  am  just  looking  round 
to  decide  on  what  to  take.  Rz  seated,  please,  while  I 
look  over  this  pile  of  sketches/' 

He  took  a  seat  and  looked  at  her  sombrely.  "  You'll 
leave  a  great  big  empty  place  here  when  you  go." 

"Do  you  mean  this  studio?" 

"I  mean  in  my  daily  life." 

She  became  reflective.  "I  hate  to  go,  and  that's 
the  truth  of  it.  I  am  just  beginning  to  feel  my  grip 
tighten  on  this  material.  I  know  I  could  do  some 
good  work  here,  but  really  I  was  frightened  at  papa's 
condition  this  afternoon.  He  is  better  now,  but  I  can 
see  that  he  is  failing.  If  he  insists  on  campaigning 
I  must  go  with  him — but,  oh,  how  I  hate  it !  Think  of 
standing  up  and  shaking  hands  with  all  these  queer 
people  for  months!  I  oughtn't  to  feel  so,  of  course, 
but  I  can't  help  it.  I've  no  patience  with  people  who 
are  half-baked,  neither  bread  nor  dough.  I  believe  I 
like  old  Mary  and  Two  Horns  better." 

"I  fear  you  are  voicing  a  mood,  not  a  conviction. 
We  ought  not  to  condemn  any  one;"  he  paused  a  mo- 
ment, then  added :  "  I  don't  like  you  to  even  say  cruel 
things.  It  hurts  me.  As  I  look  round  this  room  I 
see  nothing  which  has  to  do  with  duty  or  conviction 
or  war  or  politics.  There  is  peace  and  beauty  here. 
You  belong  in  this  atmosphere ;  you  are  fitted  to  your 
environment.  I  admit  that  I  was  fired  at  first  with 
a  desire  to  convert  you  to  my  ways  of  thought ;  now, 
when  a  sense  of  duty  troubles  you,  takes  you  away 

328 


A  WALK  IN  THE  STARLIGHT 

from  the  joy  of  your  art,  I  question  myself.  You  are 
too  beautiful  to  wear  yourself  out  in  problems.  I 
now  say,  remain  an  artist.  There  is  something  idyl- 
lic about  your  artist  life  as  I  now  understand  it.  It 
is  simple  and  childlike.  In  that  respect  it  seems  to 
have  less  troublesome  questions  of  right  or  wrong 
to  decide  than  science.  Its  one  care  seems  to  be, 
'What  will  produce  and  preserve  beauty,  and  so  as- 
suage the  pain  of  the  world?'  No  question  of  money 
or  religion  or  politics — just  the  pursuit  of  an  ideal  in 
a  sheltered  nook." 

"You  have  gone  too  far  the  other  way,  I  fear/'  she 
said,  sadly.  "  Our  lives,  even  at  the  best,  are  far 
from  being  the  ideal  you  present.  It  seems  very 
strange  to  me  to  hear  you  say  those  things— 

"I  have  given  the  matter  much  thought/'  he  re- 
plied. "  If  I  have  made  you  think  of  the  woes  of  the 
world,  so  you  have  shown  me  glimpses  of  a  life  where 
men  and  women  are  almost  free  from  care.  We  are 
mutually  instructed/'  He  rose  at  this  point  and,  after 
hesitation,  said:  "When  you  go  I  wish  you  would 
leave  this  room  just  as  it  is,  and  when  I  am  tired  and 
irritable  and  lonely  I'll  come  here  and  imagine  my- 
self a  part  of  your  world  of  harmonious  colors,  with 
no  race  questions  to  settle  and  no  harsh  duties  to  per- 
form. Will  you  do  this?  These  few  hangings  and 
lamps  and  easels  are  unimportant  to  you — you  won't 
miss  them ;  to  me  they  will  be  priceless,  and,  besides, 
you  may  come  back  again  some  time.  Say  you  will. 
It  will  comfort  me." 

There  was  a  light  in  his  eyes  and  an  intensity 
in  his  voice  which  startled  her.  She  stammered  a 
little. 

329 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"Why,  of  course,  if  it  will  give  you  the  slightest 
pleasure;  there  is  nothing  here  of  any  particular 
value.  Fll  be  glad  to  leave  them/' 

"  Thank  you.  So  long  as  I  have  this  room  as  it  is 
I  shall  be  able  to  persuade  myself  that  you  have  not 
passed  utterly  out  of  my  life/' 

She  was  a  little  alarmed  now,  and  hastened  to  say : 
"  I  do  not  see  why  we  should  not  meet  again.  I  shall 
expect  you  to  call  when  you  come  to  Washington — " 
she  checked  herself.  "I'm  afraid  my  sense  of  duty 
to  the  Tetongs  is  not  strong.  Don't  think  too  hardly 
of  me  because  of  it." 

He  seemed  intent  on  another  thought.  "Do  you 
know,  you've  given  me  a  dim  notion  of  a  new  phi- 
losophy. I  haven't  organized  it  yet,  but  it's  some- 
thing like  this :  Beauty  is  a  sense  of  fitness,  harmony. 
This  sense  of  beauty — call  it  taste — demands  posi- 
tively a  readjustment  of  the  external  facts  of  life,  so 
that  all  angles,  all  suffering  and  violence,  shall  cease. 
If  all  men  were  lovers  of  the  beautiful,  the  gentle, 
then  the  world  would  needs  be  suave  and  genial, 
and  life  harmoniously  colored,  like  your  own  studio, 
and  we  would  campaign  only  against  ugliness.  To 
civilize  would  mean  a  totally  different  thing.  I'm 
not  quite  clear  on  my  theory  yet,  but  perhaps  you 
can  help  me  out." 

"I  think  I  see  what  you  mean.  But  my  world," 
she  hastened  to  say,  "is  nothing  like  so  blameless 
as  you  think  it.  Don't  think  artists  are  actually 
what  they  should  be.  They  are  very  human,  eager  to 
succeed,  to  outstrip  each  other;  and  they  are  sordid, 
too.  No,  you -are  too  kind  to  us.  We  are  a  poor  lot 
when  you  take  us  as  a  whole,  and  the  worst  of  it  is 

330 


A  WALK  IN  THE  STARLIGHT 

the  cleverest  makers  of  the  beautiful  are  often  the 
least  inspiring  in  their  lives.  I  mean  they're  igno- 
rant and  spiteful,  and  often  dishonorable/'  She 
stopped  abruptly. 

"  I'm  sorry  to  hear  you  say  that.  It  certainly 
shatters  a  beautiful  theory  I  had  built  up  out  of  what 
you  and  other  artists  have  said  to  me."  After  a 
little  silence  he  resumed:  "It  comes  down  to  this, 
then :  that  all  arts  and  professions  are  a  part  of  life, 
and  life  is  a  compromise  between  desire  and  duty. 
There  are  certain  things  I  want  to  do  to-day,  but  my 
duties  for  to-morrow  forbid.  You  are  right  in  going 
away  with  your  father — I'm  not  one  to  keep  you 
from  doing  that — but  I  must  tell  you  how  great  has 
been  the  pleasure  of  having  you  here,  and  I  hope  you 
will  come  again.  If  you  go  to-morrow  morning  I 
shall  not  see  you  again." 

"Why  not?" 

"I  start  at  dawn  to  arrest  Cut  Finger." 

"Alone?" 

"  No.     The  captain  of  the  police  goes  with  me/1 

Her  face  paled  a  little.  "  Oh!  I  wish  you  wouldn't! 
Why  don't  you  take  the  soldiers?" 

"  They  are  not  necessary.  I  shall  leave  here  about 
four  o'clock  and  surprise  the  guilty  man  in  his  bed. 
He  will  not  fight  me."  He  rose.  "Are  you  ready 
to  go  now?" 

"  In  a  moment,"  she  said,  and  softly  crossed  the 
floor  to  peep  into  the  bedroom.  "  Poor  papa,  he  looks 
almost  bloodless  as  he  sleeps." 

As  they  stepped  out  into  the  darkness  Curtis  realized 
that  this  was  their  last  walk  together,  and  the  thought 
was  both  sweet  and  sad. 

331 


THE  CAPTAIN  OP  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"Will  you  take  my  arm?"  he  asked.  "It  is  very 
dark,  though  there  should  be  a  new  moon." 

"It  has  gone  down;  I  saw  it,"  she  replied,  as  she 
slipped  her  hand  through  his  elbow.  "  How  peaceful 
it  all  is!  It  doesn't  seem  possible  that  to-morrow 
you  will  risk  your  life  in  the  performance  of  duty, 
and  that  I  will  leave  here,  never  to  return.  I  have  a 
curious  feeling  about  this  place  now.  It  seems  as 
though  I  were  settled  here,  and  that  I  am  to  go  on 
living  here  forever." 

"  I  wish  it  were  true.  Women  like  you — you  know 
what  I  mean ;  there  are  no  women  like  you,  of  course 
— come  into  my  life  too  seldom.  I  dread  the  empty 
futility  of  to-morrow.  As  an  Indian  agent,  I  must 
expect  to  live  without  companionship  with  such  as 
you.  I  have  a  premonition  that  Jennie  is  going  to 
leave  me — as  she  ought." 

"You  will  be  very  lonely  then ;  what  will  you  do?" 

"  Work  harder ;  do  more  good,  and  so  cheat  myself 
into  forgetfulness  that  time  is  flying." 

"You  are  bitter  to-night." 

"Why  shouldn't  I  be  when  you  are  going  away? 
It  wouldn't  be  decent  of  me  to  be  gay." 

"Your  methods  of  flattery  are  always  effective. 
At  one  moment  you  discuss  the  weightiest  matters 
with  me — which  argues  I  have  brains — and  then  you 
grow  gloomy  over  my  going  and  would  seem  to  mean 
that  I  am  charming,  which  I  don't  think  is  quite  true." 

"  If  I  weren't  a  poor  devil  of  an  army  officer  I'd  con- 
vince you  of  my  sincerity  by  asking  you  not  to  go 
away  at  all." 

"That  would  be  convincing,  "she  said,  laughingly 
"Please  don't  doit!" 

332 


A  WALK  IN  THE   STARLIGHT 

His  tone  became  suddenly  serious.  "  You  are  right, 
I  can't  ask  you  to  share  a  life  like  mine.  It  is  too 
uncertain.  I  may  be  ordered  back  to  my  regiment 
next  winter,  and  then  nothing  remains  but  garrison 
duty.  I  think  I  will  then  resign.  But  I  am  un- 
fitted for  business,  or  for  any  money-getting,  and  so 
I've  decided  that  as  an  honorable  man  I  must  not 
imperil  the  happiness  of  a  woman.  I  claim  to  be  a 
person  of  taste,  and  the  girl  I  admired  would  have 
other  chances  in  life.  I  can't  afford  to  say  to  her, 
'Give  up  all  your  comfort  and  security  and  come 
with  me  to  the  frontier/  She  would  be  foolish  to 
listen — no  woman  of  the  stamp  I  have  in  mind  could 
do  it."  They  wrere  nearing  "the  parsonage''  gate, 
and  he  ended  in  a  low  voice :  "  Don't  you  think  I 
am  right?" 

"The  theory  is  that  nothing  really  counts  in  a 
woman's  life  but  love,"  she  replied,  enigmatically. 

"  Yes,  but  theory  aside— 

"  Well,  then,  I  can  conceive  of  a  girl — a  very  young 
girl — leaving  wealth  and  friends,  and  even  her  art, 
for  the  man  she  loved,  but — " 

He  waited  a  moment  as  a  culprit  listens  to  his  judge. 
"  But  then — but  in  case — " 

"If  the  girl  were  grown  up  and  loved  luxurious 
living,  and  shared  an  enthusiasm — say  for  art — 
then — "  She  broke  off  and  said,  wearily,  "Then 
she  might  palter  and  measure  values  and  weigh 
chances,  and  take  account  of  the  future  and  end 
by  not  marrying  at  all." 

They  had  reached  the  gate  and  he  spoke  with  per- 
ceivable effort:  "I've  no  right  to  ask  it,  of  course, 
but  if  you  take  pity  on  my  loneliness  at  any  time 

333 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

and  write  to  me,  your  letters  will  be  more  welcome 
than  it  is  seemly  in  me  to  say,  and  I'll  promise  not 
to  bore  you  with  further  details  of  my  'Injines.' 
Will  you  be  kind  to  me?" 

"I  will  be  glad  to  write,"  she  replied,  but  in  her 
voice  was  something  he  did  not  understand.  As 
they  entered  the  house  Elsie  said:  "Captain  May- 
nard,  Captain  Curtis  is  going  out  to-morrow  morn- 
ing to  arrest  that  crazy  Indian.  Do  you  think  he 
ought  to  go  alone?" 

"Certainly  not!  It  would  be  too  dangerous.  He 
shall*  have  an  escort,"  replied  Maynard,  emphat- 
ically. 

"No,  no!"  said  Curtis,  decisively.  "I  am  safer  to 
go  unarmed  and  alone." 

"George!"  protested  Jennie,  "you  shall  not  go  out 
there  alone.  Why  don't  you  send  the  police?" 

Maynard  here  interposed.  "  Don't  take  on  worry ; 
Fll  go  with  him  myself." 

This  last  hour  in  Elsie's  company  was  a  mingled 
pain  and  pleasure  to  Curtis,  for  she  was  most  charm- 
ing. She  laid  aside  all  hauteur,  all  perversity,  and 
gave  herself  unreservedly  to  her  good  friends.  They 
were  all  at  high  tension,  and  the  talk  leaped  from  jest 
to  protest,  and  back  to  laughter  again,  agile  and  in- 
consequent. The  time  and  the  place,  the  past  and 
the  future,  counted  for  little  to  these  four,  for  they 
were  young  and  they  were  lovers. 

At  last  Jennie  rose.  "If  you  people  are  to  rise 
at  dawn  you  must  go  to  sleep  now.  Good -night  I 
Come,  Elsie  Bee  Bee." 

Maynard  followed  Jennie  into  the  hall  with  some 
jest,  and  Curtis  seized  the  opportunity  to  delay  Elsie. 

334 


A  WALK  IN  THE  STARLIGHT 

He  offered  his  hand,  and  she  laid  hers  therein  with 
a  motion  of  half-surrender. 

"Good-night,  Captain.  I  appreciate  your  kind- 
ness more  than  I  can  say." 

"Don't  try.  I  feel  now  that  I  have  done  nothing 
— nothing  of  what  I  should  have  done;  but  I  didn't 
think  you  were  to  leave  so  soon.  If  I  had  known — " 

"You  have  done  more  than  you  realize.  Once 
more,  good-night!" 

"  Good-night  1"  he  said,  in  an  unsteady  voice ;  "  and 
remember,  you  promised  to  write!" 

"I  will  keep  my  promise."  She  turned  at  the 
door.  "Don't  try  to  write  around  your  red  people. 
I  believe  I'd  like  to  hear  how  you  get  on  with  them." 

"Defend  me  from  mine  enemies  within  the  gates, 
and  I'll  work  out  my  problem." 

"  I'll  do  my  best.      Good-bye!" 

"No,  not  good-bye — just  good-night!" 

For  a  moment  he  stood  meditating  a  further  word, 
then  stepped  into  the  hall.  Elsie,  midway  on  the 
stairs,  had  turned  and  was  looking  down  at  him  with 
a  face  wherein  the  eyes  were  wistful  and  brows  per- 
plexed. She  guiltily  lowered  her  lashes  and  turned 
away,  but  that  momentary  pause — that  subtle  in- 
terplay of  doubt  and  dream — had  given  the  soldier 
a  pleasure  deeper  than  words. 

Jennie  was  waiting  at  the  door  of  the  tiny  room 
in  which  Elsie  was  to  sleep,  her  face  glowing  with 
admiration  and  love.  "Oh,  you  queenly  girl!"  she 
cried,  with  a  convulsive  clasp  of  her  strong  arms. 
"I  can't  get  over  the  wonder  of  your  being  here  in 
our  little  house.  You  ought  to  li ve  always  in  a  castle. " 

335 


THE  CAPTAIN  OP  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

Elsie  smiled,  but  with  tears  in  her  eyes.  "  You're 
a  dear,  good  girl.  I  never  had  a  truer  friend/' 

"I  wish  you  were  poor!"  said  Jennie,  as  they  en- 
tered the  plain  little  room;  "then  you  could  come 
here  as  a  missionary  or  something,  and  we  could  have 
you  with  us  all  the  time.  I  hate  to  think  of  your 
going  away  to-morrow." 

"You  must  come  and  see  me  in  Washington/' 

"Oh  no!  That  wouldn't  do!"  said  Jennie,  half 
alarmed.  "  It  might  spoil  me  for  life  out  here.  You 
must  visit  us  again." 

There  was  a  note  of  honest,  almost  boyish  suffer- 
ing in  Jennie's  entreaties  which  moved  the  daughter 
of  wealth  very  deeply,  and  she  went  to  her  bed  with 
a  feeling  of  loss,  as  though  she  were  taking  leave  of 
something  very  sweet  and  elementally  comforting. 

She  thought  of  her  first  lover,  and  her  cheeks 
burned  with  disgust  of  her  folly.  She  thought  of 
two  or  three  good,  manly  suitors  whose  protesta- 
tions of  love  had  left  her  cold  and  humorously  criti- 
cal. On  Lawson's  suit  she  lingered,  for  he  was  still 
a  possibility  should  she  decide  to  put  her  soldier- 
lover  away.  "  But  I  have  done  so — definitely,"  she 
said  to  some  pleading  within  herself.  "I  can't 
marry  him ;  our  lives  are  ordered  on  divergent  lines. 
I  can't  come  here  to  live." 

"  Happiness  is  not  dependent  on  material  things," 
argued  her  newly  awakened  self.  "He  loves  you — 
he  is  handsome  and  true  and  good." 

"But  I  don't  love  him." 

"  Yes,  you  do.  When  you  returned  Osborne  Law- 
son's  ring  you  quite  plainly  said  so." 

She  burned  with  a  new  flame  with  this  confes- 

336 


A  WALK  IN  THE  STARLIGHT 

sion;  but  she  protested,  "  Let  us  be  sensible!     Let  us 
argue!" 

"You  cannot  argue  with  love." 

"  I  am  not  a  child  to  be  carried  away  by  a  momentary 
gust  of  emotion.  See  how  impossible  it  is  for  me  to 
share  his  work — his  austere  life." 

And  here  entered  the  far-reaching  question  of  the 
life  and  death  of  a  race.  In  a  most  disturbing  meas- 
ure this  obscure  young  soldier  represented  a  view  of 
life — of  civilization  antagonistic  to  her  faith,  and  in 
stern  opposition  to  the  teachings  of  her  father.  In 
a  subtle  fashion  he  had  warped  the  word  duty  from 
its  martial  significance  to  a  place  in  a  lofty  philoso- 
phy whose  tenets  were  only  just  beginning  to  unfold 
their  inner  meaning  to  her. 

Was  it  not  true  that  she  Wcvs  less  sympathetic  with 
the  poor  brown  peoples  of  the  earth  than  with  the 
animals?  "How  can  you  be  contemptuous  of  God's 
children,whom  the  physical  universe  has  colored  brown 
or  black  or  yellow — you,  who  are  indignant  when  a 
beast  is  overburdened?  If  we  repudiate  and  condemn 
to  death  those  who  do  not  please  us,  who  will  live?" 

She  felt  in  herself  some  singular  commotion.  Con- 
ceptions, hitherto  mere  shells  of  thought,  became  in- 
filled with  passion ;  and  pity,  hitherto  a  feeble  senti- 
ment with  her,  expanded  into  an  emotion  which  shook 
her,  filled  her  throat  with  sobs,  discrediting  her  old 
self  with  her  new  self  till  the  thought  of  her  mean 
and  selfish  art  brought  shame.  How  small  it  all  was, 
how  trivial,  beside  the  consciousness  of  duty  -well 
done,  measured  against  a  life  of  self-sacrifice,  such 
as  that  suggested  by  this  man,  whose  eyes  sought 
her  in  worship ! 

337 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

Could  there  be  any  greater  happiness  than  to  stand 
by  his  side,  helping  to  render  a  dying,  captive  race 
happier — healthier?  Could  her  great  wealth  be  put 
to  better  use  than  this  of  teaching  two  hundred  thou- 
sand red  people  how  to  meet  and  adjust  themselves 
to  the  white  man's  way  of  life?  Their  rags,  their 
squalor,  their  ignorance  were  more  deeply  depressing 
to  her  lover  than  the  poverty  of  the  slums,  for  the 
Tetongs  had  been  free  and  joyous  hunters.  Their 
condition  was  a  tragic  debasement.  She  began  to 
feel  the  arguments  of  the  Indian  helpers.  Their  words 
were  no  longer  dead  things ;  they  had  become  electric 
nodes;  they  moved  her,  set  her  blood  aflame,  and 
she  clinched  her  hands  and  said:  "I  will  help  him 
do  this  great  world" 


XXIX 

ELSIE  WARNS  CURTIS 

was  early  awake,  abrupt  and  harsh 
in  command.  "Come!  we  must  get  out  o'  here," 
he  said.  "  I  don't  want  to  be  under  the  slightest  obli- 
gation to  this  young  crank.  I  intend  to  break  him/' 

She  flamed  into  wrath — a  white  radiance.  "  When 
you  break  him  you  break  me/'  she  said. 

"  What  do  you  mean?" 

"I  mean  I've  changed  my  mind.  I  think  he's 
right  and  you  are  wrong." 

The  entrance  of  the  sheriff  prevented  a  full  account- 
ing at  the  moment,  but  it  was  merely  deferred.  Once 
in  the  carriage,  Brisbane  began  to  discredit  her  lover. 
"  Don't  tell  me  Curtis  is  disinterested ;  he  is  scheming 
for  some  fat  job.  His  altruistic  plea  is  too  thin." 

"You  are  ill-fitted  to  understand  the  motives  of  a 
man  like  Captain  Curtis,"  Elsie  replied,  and  every 
word  cut.  "  What  have  you — or  I — ever  done  that  was 
not  selfish?" 

"  I've  given  a  thousand  dollars  to  charity  for  every 
cent  of  his." 

"Yes,  and  that's  the  spirit  in  which  you  gave — 
never  to  help,  only  to  exalt  yourself,  just  as  I  have 
done.  Captain  Curtis  is  giving  himself.  He  and 
his  sister  have  made  me  see  myself  as  I  am,  and  I 

339 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

am  not  happy  over  it.  But  I  wish  you  would  not 
talk  to  me  any  more  about  them ;  they  are  my  friends, 
and  I  will  not  listen  to  your  abuse  of  them/' 

It  was  a  most  fatiguing  ride.  Brisbane  complained 
of  the  heat  and  the  dust,  and  of  a  mysterious  pain  in 
his  head;  and  Elsie,  alarmed  by  his  flushed  face, 
softened.  "  Poor  papa,  I'm  so  sorry  you  had  to  come 
on  this  long  ride  \"  Lawson  was  also  genuinely 
concerned  over  the  Senator's  growing  incoherency, 
and  privately  told  the  driver  to  push  hard  on  the  reins. 

When  they  rounded  the  sharp  point  of  the  Black 
Bear  Mesa,  and  came  in  sight  of  the  long,  low,  half- 
way  house,  Lawson  sat  up  with  a  jerk.  "There  is 
the  mob — camped  and  waiting  for  the  sheriff." 

As  Elsie  looked  at  the  swarming  figures  of  the  cow- 
boys her  mind  forecasted  tragic  events.  The  des- 
peradoes were  waiting  to  lynch  Cut  Finger — that  was 
plain.  Curtis  had  said  he  would  not  surrender  his 
prisoner  to  be  lynched.  He  was  coming;  he  would 
be  met  by  this  mob. 

She  clutched  Lawson  by  the  arm.  "We  must 
warn  him!" 

He  merely  nodded ;  but  a  look  in  his  eyes  gave  her 
to  understand  that  he  would  do  his  duty. 

The  cattlemen,  seeing  the  wagon  whirling  round 
the  mesa,  mounted  and  massed  in  stern  array,  be- 
lieving that  the  carriage  contained  the  sheriff  and 
his  prisoner.  They  were  disappointed  and  a  little 
uneasy  when  they  recognized  Brisbane,  the  great 
political  boss;  but  with  ready  wit  Johnson  rode 
along  in  front  of  the  gang,  saying,  with  a  wink: 
"Put  up  your  guns,  boys.  This  is  a  meeting  in 
honor  of  Senator  Brisbane."  Then,  as  a  mutter  of 

340 


ELSIE  WARNS   CURTIS 

laughter  ran  down  the  line,  he  took  off  his  hat  and 
lifted  his  voice: 

"Boys,  three  cheers  for  Senator  Brisbane — hip, 
hip,  hurrah!'' 

After  the  cheers  were  given  the  horsemen  closed 
round  the  carriage  with  cries  for  a  speech. 

Brisbane,  practised  orator  and  shrewd  manipulator, 
rose  as  the  carriage  stopped,  and  removed  his  hat. 
His  eyes  were  dim  and  the  blood  seemed  about  to 
burst  through  his  cheeks,  but  he  was  not  without 
self-possession. 

"  Gentlemen,  I  thank  you  for  this  demonstration, 
but  I  must  ask  you  to  wait  till  I  have  rested  and  re- 
freshed myself.  With  your  permission  I  will  then 
address  you." 

"Right— right!" 

"We  can  wait!"  they  heartily  responded,  and 
opened  a  way  for  the  carriage. 

Elsie  shuddered  as  she  looked  into  the  rude  and 
cruel  faces  of  the  leaders  of  this  lynching  party. 
They  no  longer  amused  her.  She  saw  them  now  from 
the  stand-point  of  Captain  Curtis  and  his  wards,  and 
realized  how  little  of  mercy  they  would  show  to  their 
enemies.  On  Lawson's  lips  lay  a  subtly  contemptu- 
ous smile,  and  he  uttered  no  word — did  not  lift  a  hand 
till  the  carriage  was  at  the  door. 

Streeter  helped  the  Senator  out,  and  with  unex- 
pected grace  presented  his  hand  to  Elsie.  "  I  do  not 
need  help,"  she  said,  coldly,  and  brushed  past  him 
into  the  little  sitting-room,  which  swarmed  with  ex- 
cited, scrawny,  tired,  and  tearful  women. 

"What  is  goin'  on  out  there?  Have  the  soldiers 
put  down  the  pizen  critters?"  asked  one. 

341 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"You're  Miss  Brisbane  —  we  heerd  you  was  all 
killed  at  the  agency.  Weren't  you  scared?" 

Almost  contemptuously  Elsie  calmed  their  fears, 
and  by  a  few  questions  learned  that  this  house  had 
been  made  a  rallying-point  for  the  settlers  and  that 
the  women  were  just  beginning  to  feel  the  depressing 
effects  of  being  so  long  away  from  their  homes  with- 
out rest  and  proper  food. 

"  Do  you  think  we  can  go  home  now?" 

"Certainly.  Captain  Curtis  will  see  that  you  are 
not  harmed/'  she  replied,  and  she  spoke  with  all  a 
wife's  sense  of  joy  and  pride  in  her  husband. 

"  We've  been  camping  here  for  most  a  week,  seems 
like,  an'  we're  all  wore  out,"  wailed  one  little  woman 
who  had  three  small  children  to  herd  and  watch  over. 

Brisbane,  inspirited  by  an  egg-nog  and  a  sand- 
wich, mounted  a  wash-tub  on  the  low  porch  and  be- 
gan a  speech — a  suave,  diplomatic  utterance,  wherein 
he  counselled  moderation  in  all  things.  "We  can't 
afford  at  this  time  to  do  a  rash  thing,"  he  said,  and 
winked  jovially  at  Johnson.  "  The  election  coming 
on  is,  after  all,  the  best  chance  for  us  to  get  back  at 
these  fool  Injun  apologists.  So  go  slow,  boys — go 
slow!" 

As  these  smooth  words  flowed  from  his  lips  Elsie 
burned  with  shame  and  anger.  Some  newly  ac- 
quired inward  light  enabled  her  to  read  in  the  half- 
hearted dissuasion  of  her  father's  speech  a  subtle, 
heartless  encouragement  to  violence  after  election. 
While  the  cheers  were  still  ringing  in  her  ears,  at  the 
close  of  the  address,  Elsie  felt  a  touch  on  her  shoulder 
and  turned  to  face  Calvin,  standing  close  beside  her, 
timid  and  flushed. 

342 


ELSIE  WARNS  CURTIS 

She  held  out  her  hand  with  a  swift  rush  of  confi- 
dence. 

"  Why,  how  do  you  do,  Mr.  Streeter?" 

"I'm  pretty  well/'  he  said,  loudly,  and  added,  in 
a  low  voice,  "I  want  to  see  you  alone."  He  looked 
about  the  room.  The  corner  least  crowded  was  oc- 
cupied by  a  woman  nursing  a  wailing  baby.  "  Come" 
this  way;  she's  Norwegian;  she  can't  understand 
us." 

Elsie  followed  him,  and  when  he  spoke  it  was  in  a 
rapid,  low  mutter.  "  Is  the  Major  goin'  to  come  with 
Cut  Finger?" 

"I'm  afraid  so." 

"  He  mustn't.   You  know  what  this  gang's  here  for?" 

"  What  can  we  do?     Can't  we  warn  him?" 

"Well,  I'm  goin'  to  take  a  sneak  and  try  it.  It's 
all  my  neck  is  worth  to  play  it  on  the  boys;  but 
it's  got  to  be  done,  for  the  Major  is  a  fighter,  and 
if  this  mob  meets  him  there  will  be  blood  on  the 
moon.  Now  don't  worry.  I'm  going  to  slide  right 
out  through  the  first  gate  I  see  and  head  him  off; 
mebbe  you'd  like  to  write  a  word  or  two." 

"  You  are  a  real  hero,"  she  said,  as  she  put  a  little 
slip  of  paper  into  his  hand,  and  pressed  it  there  with 
both  of  hers. 

"Don't  do  that,"  he  said,  hurriedly;  "they'll  think 
something's  up.  I'm  doin'  it  for  the  Major;  he's 
treated  me  white  all  the  way  along,  and  I'll  be  derned 
if  I  let  this  gang  do  him." 

A  pain  shot  through  her  heart.  Putting  her  hand 
to  her  bosom,  she  said :  "  It  means  everything  to  me, 
Calvin.  Good-bye.  I  am  trusting  you — it's  life  or 
death  to  me.  Good-bye!" 

343 


XXX 

THE  CAPTURE  OF  THE  MAN 

THE  east  was  saffron  and  pale-blue  as  Crow  and 
the  agent  drove  out  of  the  corral  and  up  the 
road  to  the  south.  Two  Horns  was  the  driver.  Crow 
alone  was  armed,  and  he  wore  but  his  official  revolver. 
Maynard  had  been  purposely  left  out  of  the  expedition, 
for  Curtis  did  not  wish  to  seem  to  question  in  the  slight- 
est degree  the  obedience  of  his  people.  He  preferred 
to  go  unarmed  and  without  handcuffs  or  rope,  as  a 
friend  and  adviser,  not  as  an  officer  of  the  law. 

The  morning  was  deliciously  cool,  with  a  gentle 
wind  sliding  down  from  the  high  peaks,  which  were 
already  glowing  with  the  morning's  pink  and  yellow. 
From  some  of  the  tepees  in  Grayman's  camp  smoke 
was  already  rising,  and  a  few  old  women  could  be 
seen  pottering  about  the  cooking  lodges,  while  the 
morning  chorus  of  the  dogs  and  coyotes  thickened. 
There  was  an  elemental  charm  in  it  all  which  helped 
the  young  soldier  to  shake  off  his  depression. 

Passing  rapidly  through  the  two  villages,  Two 
Horns  turned  to  the  left  and  entered  upon  a  road 
which  climbed  diagonally  up  the  side  of  a  long,  low 
ridge.  This  involved  plodding,  and  by  the  time  they 
reached  the  summit  the  sun  met  them  f ull  -  fronted. 
In  the  smaller  valley,  which  lay  between  this  ridgs 

344 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  THE  MAN 

and  the  foot-hills,  a  rough  trail  led  towards  the  moun- 
tains. This  way  Two  Horns  took,  driving  rapidly 
and  silently,  and  soon  entered  the  pines  and  pinons 
which  form  the  lower  fringe  of  the  vast  and  splendid 
robe  of  green  which  covers  the  middle  heights  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains. 

After  an  hour  of  sharp  driving,  with  scarcely  a  word 
or  gesture,  Crow  turned  and  said :  "  Cut  Finger  there. 
Black  Wolf,  his  tepee/' 

The  trail  here  took  a  sharp  curve  to  the  left  to  avoid 
a  piece  of  stony  ground,  and  from  a  little  transverse 
ridge  Curtis  could  look  down  on  a  small,  temporary 
village,  the  band  of  Black  Wolf,  wrho  had  located 
here  to  cut  hay  on  the  marsh. 

"We  must  surprise  him  if  we  can/'  said  Curtis  to 
Crow.  "WTe  must  not  shoot.  I  will  talk  to  him. 
If  he  cocks  his  gun  kill  him ;  but  I  don't  think  he 
will  want  to  fight." 

The  lads  could  be  heard  singing  their  plaintive 
songs  as  they  climbed  the  hills  for  their  ponies.  Smoke 
was  rising  from  each  lodge,  and  children,  dogs,  and 
hens  were  outdoing  each  other  in  cheerful  uproar  as 
Two  Horns  drove  up  to  where  Black  Wolf  stood,  an 
old  man  with  thin,  gray  hair,  shielding  his  eyes  with 
the  scant  shadow  of  his  bony  wrist. 

" Ho,  agent!"  he  cried.  "  Why  do  you  come  to  see 
us  so  early?" 

"Is  Cut  Finger  here?" 

"  Yes;  he  is  in  there."     He  pointed  to  a  tepee  near.  < 

"Be  silent!"  commanded  Curtis,  as  he  alighted 
swiftly,  but  without  apparent  haste  or  excitement. 
Crow  instantly  followed  him,  alert  and  resolute.  As 
they  entered  the  tepee  Cut  Finger,  still  half  asleep  on 

345 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

his  willow  hammock,  instinctively  reached  for  his 
rifle,  which  lay  beneath  him  on  the  ground,  danger- 
ous as  a  half-awakened  rattlesnake. 

Curtis  put  his  foot  on  the  weapon,  and  said,  pleas- 
antly;  "  Good-morning,  Cut  Finger;  you  sleep  late." 

The  young  man  sat  up  and  blinked  stupidly,  while 
Crow  took  the  gun  from  beneath  the  agent's  foot. 

Curtis  signed  to  Black  Wolf.  "  This  boy  has  killed 
a  herder  and  I  have  come  for  him.  You  knew  of  his 
deed." 

"I  have  heard  of  it,"  the  old  man  replied,  with  a 
gesture. 

"It  is  such  men  who  bring  trouble  on  the  tribe/' 
pursued  Curtis.  "They  must  be  punished.  Cut 
Finger  must  go  with  me  down  to  the  agency.  He 
must  not  make  more  trouble/' 

The  news  of  the  agent's  mission  brought  every 
soul  hurrying  to  the  tent,  for  Cut  Finger  had  said,  "  I 
will  fight  the  soldiers  if  they  come." 

Curtis  heard  them  coming  and  said :  "  Crow,  tell  all 
these  people  outside  that  Cut  Finger  has  done  a  bad 
thing  and  must  be  punished.  That  unless  such  men 
are  cast  out  by  the  Tetongs  they  will  always  be  in 
trouble." 

Crow  lifted  up  his  big,  resounding  voice  and  re- 
counted what  the  agent  had  said,  and  added:  "You 
shall  see  we  will  take  this  man.  I,  Crow,  have  said 
it.  It  will  be  foolish  for  any  one  to  resist." 

The  agent,  sitting  before  Cut  Finger,  addressed 
him  in  signs.  "  I  am  your  friend,  I  am  sorry  for  you. 
I  am  sorry  for  any  man  who  does  wrong  and  suffers 
punishment;  but  you  have  injured  your  people,  you 
made  the  white  man  very  angry;  he  came  ready  to 

346 


THE  CAPTURE  OP  THE  MAN 

shoot — you  saw  how  I  turned  him  away.  I  said: 
'  I  will  find  the  man  who  shot  the  herdei .  I  will  bring 
him — I  do  not  want  any  one  else  to  suffer/  Then 
you  proclaimed  yourself.  You  said:  'I  alone  did 
this  thing/  Then  you  went  on  the  hill  to  fight — I 
cannot  allow  that.  No  more  blood  will  be  shed.  I 
will  not  lie;  I  have  come  to  take  you.  You  will  be 
punished ;  you  must  go  with  me  to  the  white  man's 
strong-house/' 

A  whimpering  cry  arose,  a  cry  which  ended  in  a 
sighing  moan  of  heart-piercing,  uncontrollable  agony, 
and  Curtis,  turning  his  face,  saw  the  wife  of  Cut  Fin- 
ger looking  at  him  from  her  blanket  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  tepee.  A  shout  of  warning  from  Crow 
made  him  leap  to  his  feet  and  turn. 

Cut  Finger  confronted  him,  his  eyes  glowing  with 
desperate  resolution. 

"  Sit  down  I"  commanded  the  Captain,  using  his 
fist  in  the  sign,  with  a  powerful  gesture.  The  fugi- 
tive could  not  endure  his  chief's  eyes;  he  sank  back 
on  his  couch  and  sat  trembling. 

"If  you  touch  the  Little  Father  I  will  kill  you/' 
said  Crow,  gruffly,  as  he  stood  with  drawn  revolver 
in  his  hand.  "  I,  Crow,  have  said  it!" 

Black  Wolf  was  looking  on  with  lowering  brow. 
"  He  says  the  white  man  was  driving  his  sheep  on 
our  land." 

"So  he  was,"  replied  Curtis,  "but  it  is  bad  for  the 
Tetongs  when  a  white  man  is  killed.  It  is  better  to 
come  and  tell  me.  When  a  redman  kills  a  white 
man  the  white  men  say  :  '  Let  us  kill  all  the  Tetongs — 
spare  no  one. '  Cut  Finger  said  he  was  ready  to  die. 
Well,  then,  let  him  go  with  me,  and  I  will  make  his 

347 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

punishment  as  light  as  I  can.  I  am  his  friend — a 
friend  to  every  Tetong.  I  will  tell  the  war  chief  at 
Pinon  City  how  it  was,  and  he  will  say  Cut  Finger 
was  not  alone  to  blame — the  white  man  was  also  to 
blame.  Thus  the  punishment  will  not  be  so  heavy. 
Cut  Finger  is  a  young  man  ;  he  has  many  years  to  live 
if  he  will  do  as  I  tell  him.  He  will  come  back  to  his 
tribe  by-and-by  and  be  a  good  man." 

So,  by  putting  forth  all  his  skill  in  gesture  he  con- 
veyed to  Cut  Finger's  mind  a  new  idea — the  idea  of 
sacrificing  himself  for  the  good  of  the  tribe.  He  also 
convinced  the  members  of  Black  Wolf's  band  that 
their  peace  and  safety  lay  in  giving  him  up  to  their 
agent,  and  so  at  last  the  young  desperado  rose  and 
followed  his  chief  to  the  wagon  wherein  Two  Horns 
still  sat,  impassive  and  unafraid. 

As  he  put  his  hand  on  the  carriage-seat  a  convul- 
sive shudder  swept  over  Cut  Finger.  He  folded  his 
arms  and,  lifting  his  eyes  to  the  hills,  burst  forth  in 
a  death-song,  a  chant  so  sad,  so  passionate,  and  so 
searching,  that  the  agent's  heart  was  wrenched.  An- 
swering sobs  and  wails  broke  from  the  women,  and 
the  young  wife  of  the  singer  came  and  crouched  at 
his  feet,  her  little  babe  in  her  arms,  and  this  was  his 
song : 

"  I  am  going  away. 

I  go  to  my  death. 

The  white  man  has  said  it — 

I  am  to  die  in  a  prison. 

I  am  young,  but  I  must  go — 

1  have  a  wife,  but  I  must  go 

To  die  among  the  white  men 

In  the  dark. 

So  says  the  soldier  chief." 

348 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  THE   MAN 

Curtis,  looking  into  the  eyes  of  Black  Wolf,  perceived 
that  the  old  man  wavered.  The  wailing  of  the  women, 
the  young  man's  song,  had  roused  his  racial  hatred — 
what  to  him  was  the  killing  of  a  "white  robber"? 

"  Be  quiet ! "  commanded  Curtis,  and  the  song  ceased. 
"Get  in,  quick!  No  more  singing." 

The  ending  of  the  song  left  the  prisoner  in  a  mood 
of  gloomy  yet  passive  exaltation.  He  took  the  place 
indicated  and  sat  with  bowed  head,  his  hands  limply 
crossed. 

"Go  on!"  commanded  Curtis,  and  Two  Horns 
brought  the  whip  down  on  the  horses.  As  they  sprang 
forward  a  wail  of  agony  burst  from  the  lips  of  the 
bereaved  young  wife.  At  this  cry  Cut  Finger  again 
turned  upon  the  agent  with  hands  opened  like  the 
claws  of  a  bear  —  his  face  contorted  with  despair. 
Curtis  seized  him  in  a  grip  whose  crunching  power 
made  itself  felt  to  the  marrow  of  the  Tetong's  bones, 
and  his  eyes,  piercing  with  terrible  determination, 
shrivelled  the  resolution  of  the  half-crazed  man.  He 
sank  back  into  his  seat,  a  hopeless  lump  of  swaying 
flesh,  his  face  a  tragic  mask,  and  uttered  no  further 
word  till  the  sound  of  a  galloping  horse  made  them 
all  turn  to  see  who  followed. 

"My  wife!"  the  prisoner  said.  "She  carries  my 
baby." 

This  was  indeed  true  The  sad  little  wife  was  gal- 
loping after,  riding  a  strong  bay  pony,  the  reins  flap- 
ping loose,  while  across  the  pommel  of  her  saddle  she 
held  her  small  pappoose,  whose  faint  wailing  told  of 
his  discomfort  and  terror. 

"Wait  —  me  take  pappoose,"  the  prisoner  said,  in 
English,  with  a  note  of  command. 

349 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

Curtis  was  deeply  touched.  He  ordered  Two  Horns 
to  halt,  and  Crow  got  out  and  took  the  babe  and  handed 
it  to  Cut  Finger,  who  received  it  carefully  in  his  long 
arms.  No  woman  could  have  been  tenderer. 

As  they  drove  on,  a  big  lump  rose  in  the  soldier's 
throat.  It  seemed  a  treacherous  and  sinful  thing 
to  hand  this  man  over  to  a  savage  throng  of  white 
men,  perhaps  to  be  lynched  on  the  road.  "  I  will  not 
do  it,"  he  said ;  "  I  will  take  him  to  Pinon  City  myself. 
He  shall  have  trial  as  if  he  were  white.  I  will  yield 
him  to  the  law,  but  not  to  vengeance/' 

Cut  Finger  thereafter  spoke  no  word,  did  not  even 
look  back,  though  Curtis  detected  him  turning  his 
head  whenever  the  sound  of  the  galloping  horse 
grew  faint  or  died  away  for  a  few  moments.  The 
baby  ceased  to  wail,  and  on  the  rough  ground,  when 
the  wagon  jarred,  the  father  held  the  little  one  high 
as  in  a  sling. 

Upon  entering  the  camp  of  Crawling  Elk  they 
found  all  the  people  massed,  waiting,  listening,  and 
their  presence  excited  the  prisoner  greatly,  and  he 
began  again  to  sing  his  death -chant,  which  now 
seemed  infinitely  more  touching  by  reason  of  the 
small  creature  he  cradled  so  lovingly  in  his  anus. 

"Be  silent!"  commanded  Curtis.  "You  must  not 
sing.  Drive  fast,  Two  Horns!" 

Answering  wails  and  fragments  of  chanting  broke 
from  the  women;  one  or  two  cried  out,  "Take  him 
from  the  agent!"  But  the  men  shook  their  heads 
and  sadly  watched  them  pass.  "  He  has  done  a  foolish 
thing ;  he  must  now  suffer  for  it,"  said  Crawling  Elk. 

As  they  drew  up  before  the  door  of  the  parsonage 
Curtis  sprang  out  and  said  to  Cut  Finger : 

350 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  THE  MAN 

"  Give  me  the  baby ;  he  shall  be  well  cared  for. " 

The  father  gave  up  the  child  passively,  and  Curtis 
called  to  Jennie: 

"  Here  is  a  babe  that  is  tired  and  hungry — be  good 
to  it." 

"  Where  is  the  mother?"  asked  Jennie,  as  she  ten- 
derly received  the  little  brown  boy. 

"She  is  coming/'  he  said,  and  the  mother  gal- 
loped up  in  a  few  moments  and  fairly  tumbled  off 
her  horse.  "See!"  Curtis  said  to  her  and  to  the  fa- 
ther: "My  sister  will  give  the  baby  milk,  and  its 
mother  shall  also  be  fed.  You  need  not  fear;  both 
will  be  taken  care  of.  We  are  your  friends." 

Cut  Finger  watched  Jennie  as  she  carefully  carried 
the  baby  into  the  house,  and  as  he  turned  away,  a 
look  of  apathetic  misery,  more  moving  than  any  cry, 
settled  on  his  face. 

Maynard,  who  had  been  standing  in  the  door,  said, 
in  a  tone  of  astonishment,  "  Did  that  wild  Injun  carry 
his  pappoose  all  the  way  down?" 

"  Yes,  and  was  as  tender  of  it  as  a  woman,  too." 

"Well,  I'll  be  hanged!  There's  a  whole  lot  for 
me  to  learn  about  Injuns  yet.  Want  a  guard?" 

"Yes;  I  think  it  safer.  There  is  a  good  deal  of 
sympathy  for  this  poor  chap." 

"I  don't  blame  'em  very  much,"  said  Maynard. 
"Take  him  right  down  to  our  guard-house,  and  I'll 
have  Payne  detail  a  squad  of  men  to  take  care  of 
him." 

"I  intend  taking  him  to  Pinon  myself.  I  can't 
find  it  in  my  heart  to  give  him  over  into  the  hands  of 
these  whites — they'd  lynch  him,  sure." 

"  I  believe  it,"  replied  Maynard,  with  conviction. 
351 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

As  they  passed  the  agency  gate,  Winters  and  the 
county  attorney  stepped  out  as  if  they  expected  to 
receive  the  prisoner;  but  the  savage  grin  on  the 
sheriff's  face  died  out  as  Curtis  nodded  coldly  and 
drove  past. 

"  That  fellow  is  a  wolf.  Did  you  have  any  trouble  ?" 
asked  Maynard. 

"  Not  a  bit.  We  surprised  him  in  bed,  as  I  planned 
to  do." 

"  Nice  thing,  your  leaving  me  out  in  this  way!" 

"Have  the  Brisbanes  gone?" 

"Yes.  Got  away  about  eight  o'clock.  Lawson 
went  with  them,  though  he's  coming  back  to  see  you 
clear  of  this  war.  He's  a  crackerjack,  is  Lawson; 
but  the  old  man  has  you  marked  for  slaughter." 

It  was  good  to  be  able  to  turn  his  prisoner  over  to 
the  blue-coats  and  feel  that  he  would  not  be  taken 
away  except  properly  and  in  order.  Lynching  does 
not  flourish  under  the  eyes  of  a  commander  like  May- 
nard. As  Curtis  led  his  man  into  the  guard-house 
and  motioned  him  to  a  seat,  he  said,  in  signs : 

"  You  are  safe  now  from  the  cattlemen.  I  am  your 
friend,  remember  that.  I  myself  will  take  you  to  the 
white  chief's  big  village.  I  will  not  let  the  war  chief 
have  you.  I  will  turn  you  over  to  the  wise  man — the 
man  who  will  judge  your  case.  I  will  let  your  wife 
and  your  little  son  go  with  you.  So  you  see  I  am 
still  your  Little  Father.  I  am  very  sorry  you  have 
shot  this  man,  but  you  must  be  punished.  I  cannot 
prevent  that." 

As  he  met  the  sheriff  he  said,  quietly,  "  I  have  de- 
cided to  accompany  you  to  Pinon  City." 

The  sheriff  was  not  greatly  surprised. 
352 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  THE  MAN 

" Oh,  very  well.     But  I  don't  see  the  need  of  it." 

"I  do!"  replied  Curtis,  and  his  tone  silenced  oppo- 
sition. 

Going  immediately  to  the  house,  Curtis  flung  him- 
self down  in  his  chair  and  submitted  to  Jennie's  anx- 
ious care.  She  brought  him  some  coffee  and  biscuit, 
and  stood  with  her  hand  on  his  shoulder  while  he  ate. 
"Well,  they're  gone — Lawson  and  all.  I  never  saw 
a  greater  change  in  any  one  than  in  that  girl.  Do 
you  remember  how  she  was  last  fall?  I  never  sup- 
posed I  should  come  to  love  her.  I  hated  her  for  the 
treatment  of  you  then,  but — I  think  she  has  a  different 
feeling  towards  us  now — not  excepting  you.  I  think 
— she  was  crying  because  she  was — going — away — 
from — you." 

He  looked  up  at  her  and  smiled  incredulously. 
"  Your  loyalty  to  me,  sis,  is  more  than  I  deserve!" 

Curtis  seized  a  moment  to  cross  the  square  to  El- 
sie's studio,  eager  to  see  whether  she  had  regarded 
his  wishes  or  not.  It  was  an  absurd  thing  to  ask  of 
her,  and  yet  he  did  not  regret  having  done  so.  It 
would  serve  as  a  sort  of  test  of  her  regard,  her  sym- 
pathy. Now  as  he  stood  at  the  door  he  hesitated — 
if  it  should  be  bare ! 

He  turned  the  knob  and  entered.  The  effect  of  the 
first  impression  was  exalting,  satisfying.  All  wras  in 
order,  and  the  air  was  deliciously  cool  and  fragrant, 
infilled  with  some  rare  and  delicate  odor.  Each  arti- 
cle was  in  its  place — she  had  taken  nothing  but 
the  finished  pictures  and  some  sketches  which  she 
specially  needed.  Scraps  of  canvas  covered  with 
splashes  of  color  were  pinned  about  on  the  walls,  the 
easel  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  room,  and  her  palette 
•»  353 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

and  brushes  were  on  the  table.  The  young  soldier 
closed  the  door  behind  him  and  took  a  seat  in  deep 
emotion.  At  that  moment  he  realized  to  the  full  his 
need  of  her,  and  his  irreparable  loss.  All  he  had 
suffered  before  was  forgotten — swallowed  up  in  the 
empty,  hungry  ache  of  his  heart.  The  curtains  and 
draperies  were  almost  as  much  a  part  of  her  as  her 
dress,  and  he  could  not  have  touched  them  at  the 
moment,  so  intimately  personal  did  they  seem. 

It  appeared  that  he  had  not  fully  understood  him- 
self, after  all.  This  empty  temple,  where  she  had 
lived  and  worked,  these  reminders  of  her  beautiful 
self,  were  not  to  be  a  solace  and  a  comfort,  after  all, 
but  a  torture.  He  felt  broken  and  unmanned,  and 
the  aching  in  his  throat  grew  to  an  intolerable  pain, 
and  with  a  reaction  to  disdain  of  himself  he  rose  and 
went  out,  closing  and  locking  the  door. 


XXXI 

OUTWITTING  THE  SHERIFF 

MAYNARD  came  over  just  as  the  wagon  was 
being  brought  round,  and  with  a  look  of  con- 
cern on  his  big,  red  face,  began:  "Now  see  here, 
Curtis,  you'd  better  take  an  escort.  Those  devils 
may  be  hanging  round  the  edge  of  the  reservation. 
Say  the  word  and  I'll  send  Payne  and  a  squad  of  men." 

"I  don't  think  it  at  all  necessary,  Maynard.  I 
don't  want  to  excite  the  settlers,  and,  besides,  the 
troops  are  all  needed  here.  I  have  no  fear  of  the 
mob  while  daylight  lasts.  They  will  not  attempt  to 
take  the  man  from  me.  I  leave  you  in  command. 
Wilson  will  keep  the  police  out  on  the  hills  and  re- 
port any  movement  of  the  mob." 

Maynard  saluted.  "Very  well,  Major;  when  may 
I  look  for  you  to  return?" 

"Not  before  to-morrow  night.  I  shall  get  in  by 
sundown  to-day,  for  it  is  all  the  way  down  hill;  the 
return  will  be  slower." 

"I  don't  like  to  see  you  go  away  with  that  cut- 
throat sheriff." 

"  I  am  not  alone,"  said  Curtis.  "  I  have  two  of  the 
faithf ulest  men  in  the  world — Two  Horns  and  Crow — 
both  armed  and  watchful.  Don't  worry  about  me, 
Jack;  keep  yourself  alert  to-night." 

355 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

The  wagon  was  now  standing  before  the  guard- 
house, and  the  prisoner  was  being  brought  forth  by 
Crow.  Cut  Finger,  blinking  around  him  in  the  noon- 
day glare,  saw  his  wife  already  in  the  wagon,  and 
went  resignedly  towards  the  agent,  who  beckoned  to 
him. 

"You  may  sit  beside  her,"  Curtis  signed,  and  the 
youth  climbed  submissively  to  his  seat.  "  Mr.  Sheriff, 
you  are  to  take  a  place  beside  the  driver/' 

Winters,  swollen  with  rebellion  because  of  the  sec- 
ondary part  he  had  to  play,  surlily  consented  to  sit 
with  Two  Horns. 

"Crow,  you  camp  here,"  called  Curtis,  and  the 
trusted  Tetong  scrambled  to  his  seat.  "Drive  on, 
Two  Horns/' 

For  an  hour  and  more  no  one  spoke  but  Two  Horns, 
gently  urging  the  horses  to  their  best  pace.  Curtis 
welcomed  this  silence,  for  it  gave  him  time  to  take 
account  of  many  things,  chief  of  which  was  Bris- 
bane's violent  antagonism.  "He  overestimates  my 
importance/'  he  thought.  "But  that  is  the  way 
such  men  succeed.  They  are  as  thorough-going  in 
destroying  the  opposition  as  they  are  in  building  up 
their  own  side/' 

He  thought,  too,  of  that  last  intimate  hour  with 
Elsie,  and  wished  he  had  spoken  plainer  with  her. 
"It  would  have  been  definite  if  I  had  secured  an  an- 
swer. It  would  have  been  a  negative,  of  course,  and 
yet  such  is  my  folly,  I  still  hope,  and  so  long  as 
there  is  the  slightest  uncertainty  I  shall  waste  my 
time  in  dreaming."  His  mind  then  turned  to  the 
question  of  the  mob.  There  came  into  his  mind  again 
the  conviction  that  they  were  waiting  to  intercept  the 

356 


OUTWITTING  THE  SHERIFF 

sheriff  at  the  boundary  of  the  reservation;  but  he 
was  perfectly  certain  that  they  would  relinquish  their 
designs  when  they  found  the  sheriff  reinforced  by 
three  determined  men — one  of  them  an  army  officer 
and  the  agent.  He  had  no  fear  on  that  score ;  he  only 
felt  a  little  uneasy  at  leaving  the  agency. 

A  sharp  exclamation  from  Crow  brought  his  dream- 
ing to  an  end,  and,  looking  up,  he  saw  a  horseman 
approaching  swiftly,  his  reins  held  high,  his  elbows 
flapping.  "  That's  young  Streeter,"  he  said,  on  the 
impulse. 

"So  it  is,"  replied  Winters,  hot  with  instant  ex- 
citement. "I  wonder  what's  his  hurry?" 

Calvin  came  up  with  a  rush,  and  when  opposite 
set  his  horse  on  his  haunches  with  a  wrench  of  his 
powerful  wrist,  calling,  in  lazy  drawl :  "  Howdy,  folks, 
howdy.  Well,  I  see  you've  got  'im,"  he  remarked 
to  Curtis. 

"You've  been  ridin'  hard,"  said  Winters;  "what's 
your  rush?  Anything  doin'?" 

Calvin  looked  down  at  his  panting,  reeking  horse, 
and  carelessly  replied:  "Oh  no.  I'm  just  takin'  it 
out  o'  this  watch -eyed  bronco."  He  exchanged  a 
look  with  the  sheriff.  "  I  thought  I'd  ketch  ye  'fore 
ye  left  the  agency.  I'd  like  a  word  with  you,  sheriff ; 
tumble  out  here  for  a  minute.  You'll  wait  a  second, 
won't  you,  Major?" 

Curtis  looked  up  at  the  sun.     "  Yes;  but  be  quick." 

Calvin  slid  from  his  horse,  and  while  the  sheriff 
was  climbing  stiffly  down  on  the  opposite  side  slipped 
a  note  into  Curtis's  hand. 

As  the  sheriff  listened  to  Calvin's  low-voiced  re- 
port Curtis  glanced  at  the  paper.  It  was  in  pencil, 

357 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

and  from  Elsie.  "The  mob  is  waiting  at  the  half- 
way house,  cruel  as  wolves — turn  back — for  my 
sake." 

Curtis  crumpled  the  paper  in  his  hand  and  called 
out  imperatively:  "Come,  Sheriff  Winters,  I  cannot 
wait." 

Winters  turned  away  smilingly.  "  That's  all  right, 
Cal.  I  didn't  understand,  that's  all.  I'm  glad  the 
boys  went  home.  Of  course  the  troops  settled  every- 
thing." 

Curtis  caught  Calvin's  eye,  and  a  nod,  almost  im- 
perceptible, passed  between  them,  and  the  cowboy 
was  aware  that  the  soldier  understood  the  situation. 
"  Where  did  you  leave  the  Senator?" 

"At  the  half-way  house." 

"How  was  he?"" 

"Feeling  well  enough  to  make  a  speech,"  replied 
Calvin. 

The  other  team,  containing  Grismore  and  the  re- 
porters, was  by  this  time  but  a  few  rods  away,  and, 
watching  his  opportunity,  Curtis  signalled :  "  Stop 
that  wagon— hold  them  here."  Calvin  again  nodded. 
"  Drive  on,"  called  Curtis.  And  Winters  smiled  with 
rare  satisfaction 

Some  miles  before  reaching  the  border  of  the  reser- 
vation, Two  Horns,  at  a  sign  from  Curtis,  left  the 
main  road  and  began  to  climb  a  low  ridge  to  the  east. 

The  sheriff  turned  and  called  sharply:  "Where  is 
he  going?" 

"He  has  his  orders,  Mr.  Sheriff." 

"He's  taking  the  wrong  road.  It  is  five  miles 
farther  that  way." 

"He  is  following  my  orders." 

358 


OUTWITTING  THE  SHERIFF 

"  But  I  don't  see  the  sense  of  it." 

"You  are  only  a  passenger.  If  you  don't  care  to 
ride  with  us  you  can  walk/'  replied  Curtis,  and  the 
sheriff  settled  back  into  his  seat  with  a  curse.  The 
second  wagon  had  been  left  far  behind,  and  would 
undoubtedly  keep  the  main  road,  a  mishap  Curtis  had 
calculated  upon. 

An  hour  or  two  of  extra  travel  would  not  matter, 
especially  as  the  mob  was  being  left  safely  on  the 
left. 

The  warning  from  Elsie  had  a  singular  effect  upon 
the  soldier.  He  grew  almost  gay  at  the  thought  of 
her  care  of  him.  In  some  occult  way  the  little  card 
meant  a  great  deal  more  than  its  few  words.  If  they 
were  delayed  at  the  half-way  house  they  might  not 
reach  Pinon  in  time  for  the  afternoon  train,  and  so— 
"  I  may  see  her  again." 

As  he  neared  the  boundary  of  the  reservation  the 
sheriff  gained  in  resolution.  Looking  backward,  he 
saw  his  own  team  following,  outlined  like  a  rock 
against  the  sky,  just  topping  a  ridge,  and  reaching 
over  he  laid  his  hand  on  the  reins  and  pulled  the 
horses  to  a  stand. 

"Right  here  /  take  charge  I"  he  growled.  "I'm 
on  my  own  ground.  Get  out  o'  there  1"  he  said  to 
the  prisoner,  and  as  he  spoke  he  drew  his  revolver 
and  leaped  to  the  ground. 

Cut  Finger  turned  towards  Curtis,  whose  face  was 
set  and  stern.  "Sit  still!"  he  commanded,  with  a 
gesture.  "Put  up  your  gun!"  he  said  to  Crow,  who 
had  drawn  his  revolver,  ready  to  defend  his  prisoner. 

Winters  flew  into  bluster.  "Do  you  defy  my 
authority  now?  I'm  sheriff  of  this  county!"  he 

359 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

shouted.  "Your  control  ends  right  here!  This  is 
State  territory." 

Curtis  eyed  him  calmly.  "I  started  out  to  give 
this  man  safe  convoy  to  the  prison,  and  I'm  going  to 
do  it!  Not  only  that — he  is  a  ward  of  the  govern- 
ment, even  when  lodged  in  the  county  jail,  and  it  is 
my  duty  to  see  that  he  has  fair  trial;  then,  and  not 
till  then,  will  I  abandon  him  to  the  ferocity  of  your 
mob.  I  know  your  plan,  and  I  have  defeated  it. 
Do  you  intend  to  ride  with  us?" 

The  sheriff's  courage  again  failed  him  as  he  looked 
up  into  the  direct,  unwavering  eagle  gaze  of  the 
young  officer.  He  began  to  curse.  "We'll  have 
your  hide  for  this!  You've  gone  too  far!  You've 
defied  the  laws  of  the  county!" 

"Drive  on,"  said  Curtis,  and  Two  Horns  touched 
his  ponies  with  the  whip. 

"Halt,  or  I  fire!"  shouted  Winters. 

"Drive  on!"  commanded  Curtis,  and  Two  Horns 
laid  the  whip  hard  on  the  back  of  his  off  horse. 

Winters  fired,  but  the  bullet  went  wide;  he  dared 
not  aim  to  kill.  Cut  Finger  rose  as  if  to  leap  from 
the  wagon,  but  Crow  seized  him  with  one  great  brown 
paw  and  thrust  his  shining  gun  against  his  breast. 
"Sit  down,  brother!"  he  said,  grimly.  "We'll  care 
for  you." 

The  prisoner  sank  back  into  his  seat  trembling 
with  excitement,  while  the  wife  began  to  cry  pite- 
ously. 

Curtis,  looking  back,  saw  the  sheriff  waving  his 
revolver  maniacally,  but  his  curses  fainted  on  the 
way.  A  sudden  reaction  to  humor  set  in,  and  the 
agent  laughed  a  hearty  chuckle  which  made 
360 


OUTWITTING   THE    SHERIFF 

his  faithful  Tetong  aids  break  into  sympathetic 
grins. 

Nevertheless,  the  case  was  not  entirely  humor- 
ous. In  a  certain  sense  he  had  cut  athwart  the  law 
in  this  last  transaction,  though  in  doing  so  he  had 
prevented  an  act  of  violence  which  would  have  still 
further  embittered  the  tribe.  "I  am  right/'  he  said/ 
and  put  away  all  further  doubt. 

The  drive  now  settled  into  a  race  for  the  jail.  "  The 
sheriff,  after  being  picked  up  by  his  own  party,  will 
undertake  to  overhaul  us/'  reasoned  Curtis,  but  that 
did  not  trouble  him  so  much  as  the  thought  of  what 
lay  before  him. 

The  road  ran  along  Willow  Creek,  winding  as 
the  stream  itself,  and  Curtis  could  not  avoid  the 
thought  of  an  ambuscade.  On  the  right  were 
clumps  of  tall  willows  capable  of  concealing  horse- 
men, while  on  the  left  the  hot,  treeless  banks  rose  a 
hundred  feet  above  the  wagon,  and  the  loopings  of 
the  track  prevented  a  view  of  what  was  coming.  If 
the  mob  should  get  impatient,  or  if  they  should  sus- 
pect his  trick,  it  would  be  easy  to  send  a  detachment 
across  the  hills  and  intercept  him.  "Push  hard!" 
he  signed  to  Two  Horns. 

The  road  was  smooth  and  dusty  and  descended 
rapidly,  so  that  the  horses  had  little  to  do  but 
guide  the  tongue.  As  the  wagon  rocked  and  reeled 
past  the  ranch  houses,  the  settlers  had  hardly 
time  to  discern  what  manner  of  man  was  driving, 
but  they  were  thrown  into  fierce  panic  by  the  clatter 
of  fleeing  horses  and  the  cloud  of  prophetic  dust. 
The  sheriff  was  not  in  sight,  and  no  sound  of  him 
could  be  detected  in  the  whiz  of  their  own  wheels. 

361 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

At  last  Two  Horns,  with  his  moccasined  foot  on 
the  brake,  broke  through  the  hills  out  upon  the  val- 
ley land,  with  Pinon  City  in  sight.  The  mob  and 
the  sheriff  were  alike  left  behind.  Ambush  was 
now  impossible. 

"  Easy  now,  Two  Horns/'  called  Curtis,  with  a  smile 
and  an  explanatory  gesture.  "  We're  safe  now ;  the 
angry  white  men  are  behind/'  and  the  reeking,  dusty, 
begrimed  horses  fell  into  a  walk. 

The  hour  for  their  arrival  in  Pinon  City  was  fort- 
unate. The  town  was  still  at  supper,  and  in  the 
dusk  Curtis  and  prisoner  escaped  notice.  They 
hurried  across  the  main  street  and  on  towards  the 
jail,  which  stood  on  a  little  knoll  just  outside  the  town. 

As  they  drew  up  before  the  door  a  young  man 
came  out  and  stared  with  inquiring  gaze. 

Curtis  spoke  first.     "Are  you  the  turnkey?" 

"  I'm  in  charge  here;  yes,  sir." 

"I  am  Captain  Curtis,  the  agent.  This  is  Cut 
Finger,  charged  with  the  murder  of  a  white  man.  I 
have  brought  him  in.  The  sheriff  is  just  behind." 
He  turned  to  the  prisoner  and  signed.  "Get  down  I 
Here  is  the  strong-house  where  you  are  to  stay!" 

Cut  Finger  clambered  slowly  down,  his  face  rigid, 
his  limbs  tremulous  with  emotion.  To  go  to  the  dark 
room  of  the  strong-house  was  the  worst  fate  that 
could  overtake  a  free  man  of  the  hills,  and  his  heart 
fluttered  like  a  scared  bird. 

"  It  would  be  a  good  plan  to  let  his  wife  go  in  with 
Viim,"  suggested  Curtis.  "It  will  save  trouble." 

The  poor,  whimpering  girl-wife  followed  her  culprit 
husband  up  the  steps  and  into  the  cold  and  gloomy 
hall  to  which  they  were  admitted,  her  eyes  on  the 

362 


OUTWITTING  THE  SHERIFF 

floor,  her  sleeping  child  held  tightly  in  her  arms. 
When  the  gate  shut  behind  him  Curtis  signed  to  the 
prisoner  this  advice : 

"Now  be  good.  Do  not  make  any  trouble.  Do 
what  these  people  tell  you.  Eat  your  food.  I  will 
ask  the  sheriff  to  let  your  wife  see  you  in  the  morning, 
and  then  she  will  go  home  again.  She  can  come 
once  each  month  to  see  you."  He  touched  the  wife 
on  the  arm,  and  when  she  comprehended  his  gesture 
she  uttered  again  that  whimpering  moan,  and  as 
she  bent  her  head  in  dumb  agony  above  her  babe, 
Curtis  gently  led  her  to  the  door,  leaving  Cut  Finger 
to  the  rigor  of  the  white  man's  law. 


xxxn 

AN  EVENTFUL  NIGHT 

AT  the  railway  station  Curtis  alighted.  "Go  to 
Paul  Ladue  V  he  said  to  Two  Horns.  "  Put  the 
horses  in  his  corral  and  feed  them  well.  Sit  down 
with  Paul,  and  to-morrow  morning  at  sunrise  come 
for  me  at  the  big  hotel.  Be  careful.  Don't  go  on 
the  street  to-night.  The  white  men  have  evil  hearts." 

"  We  know/'  said  Crow,  with  a  clip  of  his  forefinger. 
"We  will  sleep  like  the  wolf,  with  one  eye  open." 

As  they  drove  away,  Curtis  hurried  into  the  station, 
and  calling  for  a  blank,  dashed  away  at  a  brief  tele- 
gram to  the  Commissioner.  While  revising  it  he 
overheard  the  clerk  say,  in  answer  to  a  question  over 
the  telephone:  "No,  Senator  Brisbane  did  not  get 
away  on  '  sixteen. '  He  is  still  at  the  Sherman 
House." 

Curtis  straightened  and  his  heart  leaped.  "  Then  I 
can  see  Elsie  again!"  he  thought.  Hastily  pencilling 
two  or  three  shorter  messages,  he  handed  them  in  and 
hurried  up  the  street  towards  the  hotel,  eager  to  re- 
lieve her  anxiety. 

By  this  time  the  violet  dusk  of  a  peaceful  night 
covered  the  town.  The  moon,  low  down  in  the  west, 
was  dim,  but  the  stars  were  beginning  to  loom  large 
in  the  wonderful  deep  blue  to  the  east.  The  air  was 

364 


AN  EVENTFUL  NIGHT 

windless.  No  cloud  was  to  be  seen,  and  yet  the  sol- 
dier had  a  touch  of  uneasiness.  "I  wish  I  had 
brought  my  faithful  men  with  me  to  the  Sherman 
House.  However,  there  is  no  real  cause  to  worry. 
Paul  is  more  Tetong  than  borderman — and  will  pro- 
tect them — if  only  they  keep  off  the  street." 

He  began  to  meet  men  in  close-packed  groups  on 
the  sidewalk  —  roughly  clad  citizens  who  seemed 
absorbed  in  the  discussion  of  some  important  event. 
A  few  of  them  recognized  him  as  he  passed,  and  one 
called,  in  a  bitter  tone,  "  There  goes  the  cur  him- 
self!" Curtis  did  not  turn,  though  the  tone,  more 
insulting  than  the  words,  made  his  heart  hot  with 
battle.  It  was  plain  that  the  sheriff  and  his  party 
had  already  entered  and  reported  their  defeat.  A 
saloon  emptied  a  mob  of  loud-voiced  men  upon  the 
sidewalk  before  him,  and  though  he  feared  trouble 
he  pushed  steadily  forward.  The  ruffians  gave  way 
before  his  resolute  feet,  but  he  felt  their  hate  beat- 
ing like  flame  upon  his  face.  He  dared  not  turn  a 
hair's-breadth  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left;  nothing 
was  better  than  to  walk  straight  on.  "  They  will  not 
shoot  me  in  the  back,"  he  reasoned,  and  beyond  a 
volley  of  curses  he  remained  unassaulted. 

The  rotunda  of  the  hotel  was  filled  with  a  different 
but  not  less  dangerous  throng  of  excited  politicians 
and  leading  citizens,  who  had  assembled  to  escort 
Brisbane  to  the  opera-house.  The  talk,  though  less 
profane  than  that  of  the  saloon  loafers,  was  hardly 
less  bitter  against  the  agent.  Mingled- with  these  dis- 
trict bosses  were  a  half-dozen  newspaper  men,  who 
instantly  rushed  upon  Curtis  in  frank  and  boyish 
rivalry.  "Captain,  what  is  the  news?"  they  breath- 

365 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

lessly  asked,  with  pads  and  pencils  ready  for  his  un- 
doing. 

"All  quiet!"  was  his  curt  reply. 

"  But— but— how  about—" 

"All  liesl"  he  interrupted  to  say,  and  pushed  on  to 
the  desk.  "  Is  Senator  Brisbane  and  party  still  here?" 
he  asked,  as  he  signed  his  name  in  the  book. 

The  clerk  applied  the  blotter.  "Yes;  he  is  still  at 
supper." 

The  young  soldier  took  time  to  wash  the  dust  from 
his  face  and  hands  and  smooth  his  hair  before  enter- 
ing the  dining-room.  At  the  threshold  he  paused  and 
took  account  of  his  enemies.  Brisbane  and  three  of 
his  most  trusted  supporters,  still  sitting  at  coffee, 
were  holding  a  low-voiced  consultation  at  a  corner 
table,  while  Lawson  and  Elsie  sat  waiting  some  dis- 
tance away  and  near  an  open  window.  The  Parkers 
were  not  in  view. 

Elsie,  at  sight  of  her  lover,  rose  impulsively,  and 
her  face,  tired  and  pale,  flushed  to  a  beautiful  pink. 
Her  lips  formed  the  words  "Why,  there  is  Captain 
Curtis  1"  but  her  voice  was  inaudible. 

He  hastened  forward  with  eyes  only  for  her,  and  she 
met  him  with  both  hands  outstretched — eager,  joyous ! 

"  Oh,  how  good  it  is  to  see  you  1  We  were  so  alarmed 
— Calvin  warned  you?" 

"  Yes.  He  met  me  just  before  I  left  the  reserva- 
tion." 

"  But  I  expected  you  to  bring  soldiers ;  how  did  you 
escape?  Did  you  find  the  cattlemen  gone?" 

"I  flanked  them."  His  face  relaxed  into  humor. 
"Discretion  is  a  sort  of  valor  sometimes.  I  took  the 
Willow  road." 

366 


AN  EVENTFUL  NIGHT 

Lawson  now  joined  them,  and  in  his  hand-clasp 
was  a  brother's  regard  for  the  soldier.  His  smile 
was  exultant.  "Good  work!  I  knew  Calvin  could 
be  trusted.  It  looked  bad  for  Cut  Finger  when  we 
reached  the  half-way  house/' 

"You  must  be  hungry!''  exclaimed  Elsie.  "Sit 
here  and  I  will  order  something  for  you." 

"  I  was  hungry  an  hour  ago/'  he  said,  meaningly, 
"but  now  I  am  not.  But  I  am  tired/'  he  added. 
"  Where  are  the  Parkers?" 

Elsie  laughed.  "On  their  way  to  civilization. 
They  fled  on  the  up-train." 

"The  town  is  aflame/'  said  Lawson.  "You  and 
your  Tetongs  are  an  issue  here  to-night.  A  big 
meeting  is  called,  and  the  Senator  is  to  speak.  He 
has  just  discovered  you/'  he  added,  glancing  towards 
Brisbane,  who  had  risen  and  was  glaring  at  Curtis, 
his  small  eyes  hot  as  those  of  an  angry  bear. 

"Excuse  me,  won't  you?"  pleaded  Elsie,  rising 
hastily.  "  I  must  go  to  him!" 

Curtis  also  rose  and  looked  soberly  into  her  eyes. 
"May  I  not  see  you  again?" 

She  hesitated.  "  Yes.  I'm  not  going  to  the  meet- 
ing. Come  to  our  parlor  when  you  are  finished  sup- 
per." 

He  remained  standing  till  she  joined  her  father 
and  passed  from  the  room,  then  he  turned  towards 
Lawson,  who  said : 

"  Seriously,  my  dear  Curtis,  you  are  in  danger  here. 
I  hope  you  will  not  go  out  this  evening.  Even  Uncle 
Sam's  blue  might  not  prove  a  protection  in  the 
dark  of  a  night  like  this.  Where  did  you  house  your 
men?" 

367 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"At  Ladue's,  with  orders  not  to  leave  the  corral." 

"  Quite  right.     Where  is  the  sheriff?" 

This  question  brought  a  humorous  light  into  the 
young  soldier's  eyes.  "  When  I  saw  him  last  he  was 
on  Sage-hen  Flat  swinging  his  revolver  and  cursing 
me,"  and  he  told  the  story. 

Lawson  grew  grave.  "I'm  sorry  you  had  to  do 
that;  it  will  give  your  enemies  another  grip  on  you. 
It's  a  mere  technicality,  of  course,  but  they'll  use  it. 
You  must  watch  every  one  of  your  clerks  from  this 
on ;  they'll  trump  up  a  charge  against  you  if  they  can, 
and  secure  a  court-martial.  This  election  is  really 
the  last  dying  struggle  of  the  political  banditti  of  the 
State,  and  they  will  be  defeated.  Take  to-night  as 
an  example.  The  reckless  devils,  the  loud  of  mouth 
are  alone  in  evidence,  the  better  class  of  citizens  dare 
not  protest — dare  not  appear  on  the  streets.  But 
don't  be  deceived,  you  have  your  supporters  even  here, 
in  the  midst  of  this  saturnalia  of  hate.  You  are  an 
issue." 

Curtis  grimly  smiled.  "I  accept  the  challenge  ! 
They  can  only  order  me  back  to  my  regiment." 

"As  for  Brisbane,  he  is  on  the  point  of  collapse. 
He  has  lost  his  self-control.  He  has  attained  a  fixed 
notion  that  you  are  his  most  dangerous  enemy;  the 
mention  of  your  name  throws  him  into  fury.  I  lost 
patience  with  him  to-day,  and  opened  fire.  '  You  are 
doomed  to  defeat!'  I  said  to  him.  'You  represent 
the  ignoble,  greedy,  conscienceless  hustler  and  spec- 
ulator, not  the  peaceful,  justice-loving  citizen  of  this 
State.  Your  dominion  is  gone;  the  reign  of  order 
and  peace  is  about  to  begin. '  If  it  were  not  for  Elsie 
I  would  publicly  denounce  him,  for  his  election  would 

368 


AN  EVENTFUL  NIGHT 

work  incalculable  injury  to  the  West.  But  he  can't 
fill  the  legislature  with  his  men  as  he  did  twelve  years 
ago.  He  will  fail  of  election  by  fifty  votes/' 

"I  hope  so/'  responded  Curtis,  with  a  sigh,  as  Law- 
son  rose.  "  But  I  have  no  faith  in  the  courage  of  the 
better  element;  virtue  is  so  timid  and  evil  is  always 
so  fully  organized/' 

After  Lawson  left  him  Curtis  hurriedly  finished 
his  supper  and  went  his  way  to  his  room  for  a  mo- 
ment's rest.  Through  the  open  windows  he  could 
hear  the  cheering  which  greeted  Brisbane's  entrance 
into  the  opera-house,  which  faced  upon  the  little 
square  before  the  hotel.  The  street  was  thronging 
with  noisy  boys,  and  at  intervals  a  band  of  young 
herders  clattered  into  the  square.  Their  horses  thick- 
ened along  the  hitching-poles,  and  the  saloons  swarm- 
ed with  men  already  inflamed  with  drink.  The  air 
seemed  heavy,  oppressive,  electrical,  and  the  shrill 
cheers  which  rose  above  the  dull  rumble  of  pound- 
ing boot-heels  in  the  hall  possessed  a  savage  animal 
vehemence.  Again  a  sense  of  impending  disaster 
swept  over  the  young  officer.  "I  am  tired  and  ner- 
vous," he  thought.  "Surely  law  and  order  rules  in 
a  civilized  community  like  this." 

He  put  away  all  thoughts  of  war  as  he  followed 
the  boy  up  the  stair-way  to  the  Brisbane  private  par- 
lor, and  became  the  lover,  palpitant  with  the  hope 
that  he  was  about  to  see  Elsie  alone. 

She  met  him  at  the  door,  her  face  a-quiver  with 
feeling,  a  note  of  alarm  in  her  voice.  "Have  you 
heard  the  cheering?  They  are  denouncing  you 
over  there!" 

"I  suppose  so.  But  let's  not  talk  of  such  unim- 
*4  369 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

portant  matters;  this  is  our  last  evening  together, 
and  I  want  to  forget  the  storm  outside.  Since  I  left 
you  last  night  I  have  had  a  most  remarkable  ex- 
perience, and  I — " 

"Oh,  you  mean  catching  the  murderer;  tell  me 
about  it!" 

"  No.  Oh  no ;  that  is  not  worth  telling.  I  mean 
something  more  intimately  personal."  Shrill  yells 
from  across  the  way  interrupted  him,  and  Elsie  rose 
and  shut  the  window.  "  I  hate  them ;  they  are  worse 
than  savages,"  she  said.  " Please  don't  mind  them." 

He  went  on:  "I  was  about  to  say  I  had  a  deal  of 
time  to  think  on  my  long  ride  this  morning,  and  I 
reached  some  conclusions  which  I  want  to  tell  you 
about.  When  my  prisoner  was  safe  in  the  guard- 
house, I  went  over  to  see  how  my  little  temple  of  art 
looked — I  mean  your  studio,  of  course.  I  closed  the 
door  and  dropped  into  one  of  the  big  chairs,  hoping 
to  gain  rest  and  serenity  in  the  beauty  and  quiet 
of  the  place.  But  I  didn't ;  I  was  painfully  de- 
pressed." 

She  opened  her  eyes  very  wide  at  this.     "Why?" 

"Because  everything  I  saw  there  emphasized  the 
irrevocable  loss  1  had  suffered.  I  couldn't  endure 
the  thought  of  it,  and  I  fled.  I  could  not  remain  with- 
out weeping,  and  you  know  a  man  is  ashamed  of  his 
tears;  but  when  I  got  your  note  of  warning  I  flung 
conscience  to  the  winds !  '  It  is  not  a  crime  to  love  a 
woman/  I  said.  'I  will  write  to  her  and  say  to  her 
"I  love  you,  no  matter  what  happens;"  '  and,  now  I 
find  you  here,  I  tell  it  to  you  instead  of  writing  it." 

She  was  facing  him  with  a  look  of  perplexity  and 
alarm.  One  hand  laid  upon  her  throat  seemed  to 

370 


AN   EVENTFUL  NIGHT 

express  suffering.  When  she  spoke  her  voice  was 
very  low. 

"What  do  you  expect  me  to  say;  you  make  it  so 
hard  for  me!  Why  do  you  tell  me  this?" 

"Because  I  could  not  rest  till  I  had  spoken.  For 
a  long  time  I  thought  you  were  bound  to  Lawson; 
and  since  then  I've  tried  to  keep  silent  because  of 
my  poverty  and — no  one  knows  better  than  I  the 
unreason  of  it  all — I  do  not  ask  you  to  speak  except 
to  say,  '  I  am  sorry. '  When  I  found  you  were  still 
within  reach,  the  desire  to  let  you  know  my  feeling 
overcame  every  other  consideration.  I  can't  even  do 
the  customary  thing  and  ask  you  to  wait,  for  my  fut- 
ure is  as  uncertain  as  my  present,  but  if  you  could 
say  you  loved  me — a  little — "  he  paused  abruptly,  as 
though  choked  into  silence  by  a  merciless  hand. 

Elsie  remained  silent, with  her  eyes  turned  towards 
the  window,  her  hands  in  her  lap,  and  at  last  he 
went  on : 

"  If  your  father  is  a  true  prophet,  I  shall  be  ordered 
back  to  my  regiment.  That  will  hurt  me,  but  it 
won't  ruin  me  exactly.  It  would  be  a  shameful 
thing  if  the  department  sacrificed  me  to  expediency; 
but  politicians  are  wonderful  people  !  If  you  were 
not  so  much  an  artist  and  Andrew  Brisbane's  daugh- 
ter, I  would  ask  you  to  come  to  me  and  help  me  do  my 
work,  but  I  can't  quite  do  that — yet;  I  can  only  say 
you  are  more  to  me  now  than  any  other  soul  in  the 
world.  I  do  this  because  I  can't  keep  from  it/'  he 
repeated,  in  poor  ending. 

"I've  heard  that  the  best  way  to  make  a  woman 
love  a  man  is  to  persecute  the  man,"  she  replied, 
smiling  a  little,  though  her  eyes  were  wet.  "When 

371 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

you  were  apparently  triumphant  I  hated  you — now — " 
she  hesitated  and  a  sudden  timidity  shook  her. 

He  sprang  up.  "  Can  you  carry  out  the  figure?  I 
dare  you  to  finish  the  sentence.  Do  you  care  for  me 
a  little?"  His  face,  suddenly  illuminated,  moved 
her  powerfully. 

"I'm.  afraid  I  do — wait,  please!"  She  stopped 
him  with  a  gesture.  "You  mustn't  think  I  mean 
more  than  I  do.  My  mind  is  all  in  a  whirl  now;  it 
isn't  fair  to  hurry  me;  I  must  take  time  to  consider. 
Your  being  poor  and  an  Indian  agent  wouldn't  make 
any  difference  to  me  if  I —  But  I  must  be  sure.  I 
respect  you  —  I  admire  you  very  much  —  and  last 
night  when  I  said  good-bye  I  felt  a  sharp  pain  here." 
She  put  her  hand  to  her  throat.  "  But  I  must  be  sure. 
There  are  so  many  things  against  it,"  she  ended, 
covering  her  eyes  with  her  hand  in  piteous  perplexity. 

His  eyes  were  alight,  his  voice  eager.  "It  would 
be  such  a  glorious  thing  if  you  could  join  me  in  my 
work." 

The  mention  of  his  work  stung  her.  "Oh  no!  It 
is  impossible.  I  should  die  here !  I  have  no  sense  of 
duty  towards  these  poor  vagabonds.  I'm  sorry  for 
them  —  but  to  live  here  —  no,  no!  You  must  not 
ask  it.  You  must  go  your  way  and  I  will  go  mine. 
You  are  only  torturing  me  needlessly." 

"Forgive  me,"  he  pleaded.  "I  did  not  mean  to  do 
so." 

She  continued,  wildly:  "Can't  you  see  how  crazy, 
how  impossible,  it  is?  I  admire  you  —  I  believe  in 
your  work — it  is  magnificent;  but  I  can't  live  your 
life.  My  friends,  my  art,  mean  too  much  to  me." 

There  was  a  tremulous,  passionate  pleading  \7hick 
372 


AN  EVENTFUL  NIGH? 

failed  of  finality:  it  perplexed  her  lover;  it  did  not 
convince  him. 

"You  are  right;  of  course  you  are  right,"  he  said 
again ;  "  but  that  does  not  help  me  to  bear  the  pain 
of  your  loss.  I  can't  let  you  go  out  of  my  life — ut- 
terly—I  can't  do  it— I  will  not—  Hark!  What  is 
that?" 

A  faint,  far-off,  thundering  sound  interrupted  him. 
A  rushing  roar,  as  of  many  horsemen  rapidly  ap- 
proaching. Hastening  to  the  window,  Curtis  bent 
his  head  to  listen.  "  It  sounds  like  a  cavalry  charge. 
Here  they  come!  Cowboys — a  mob  of  them!  Can 
it  be  Yarpe's  gang?  Yes;  that  is  precisely  what  it 
is.  Yarpe  leading  them  into  some  further  deviltry." 

Whooping  and  cursing,  and  urging  their  tired 
horses  with  quirt  and  spur,  the  desperadoes,  some- 
what thinned  of  ranks,  pouring  by  in  clattering, 
pounding  rush — as  orderless  as  a  charging  squad  of 
Sioux  warriors — turned  up  a  side  street  and  disap- 
peared almost  before  any  one  but  Curtis  was  aware 
of  them. 

"They  are  bent  on  mischief,"  said  the  soldier  as 
he  turned  upon  the  girl,  all  personal  feeling  swept 
away  by  the  passing  mob.  "They  have  followed 
me  in  to  force  the  jail  and  hang  Cut  Finger."  He 
caught  up  his  cap.  "I  must  prevent  it!" 

"No!  No!"  cried  Elsie,  seizing  his  arm.  "You 
must  not  go  out  in  the  street  to-night — they  will  kill 
you — please  don't  go — you  have  done  your  duty. 
Now  let  the  mayor  act,  I  beg  of  you!" 

"  Dear  girl,  I  must  thwart  this  lynching  party.  I 
would  be  disgraced!  Don't  you  see?  They  have 
seized  the  moment  when  the  citizens  are  all  in  the 

373 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

hall  away  from  the  jail  to  do  this  thing.      I  must 
alarm  the  town  and  prevent  them/' 

Even  as  he  pleaded  with  her  the  tumult  in  the  hall 
broke  forth  again,  roared  for  a  moment  in  wild  cres- 
cendo, and  then  ceased  instantly,  strangely.  A 
moment's  silence  followed,  and  a  confused  murmur 
arose,  quite  different  from  any  sound  which  had  hither- 
to emanated  from  the  hall.  A  powerful  voice  dom- 
inated all  others,  and  through  the  open  windows  the 
words  of  command  could  be  distinctly  heard.  "  Keep 
back  there  I  Keep  your  seats !" 

"The  meeting  is  breaking  up!"  exclaimed  Curtis. 
"  Some  one  has  alarmed  them.  See,  they  are  pouring 
out  to  prevent  this  crazy  mob  from  carrying  out  its 
plan." 

The  shouting  ceased,  but  the  trample  of  feet  and 
the  murmur  of  voices  thickened  to  a  clamor,  and 
Elsie  turned  white  with  a  new  fear.  "  They  are  rush- 
ing across  the  square!  Perhaps  they  are  coming 
for  you!" 

"I  don't  think  so;  they  would  not  dare  to  attack 
me — they  hate  me,  but — " 

Her  over- wrought  nerves  gave  way.  A  panic  seized 
her.  "Hide!  Hide!  They  will  kill  youl"  she  cried 
out,  hoarsely. 

"  No ;  I  am  going  to  help  them  defend  the  jail. " 

"For  my  sake!"  she  pleaded,  "don't  leave  me! 
Listen!  they  are  coming!"  she  whispered.  The 
sound  of  many  feet  could  be  heard  in  the  lobby  be- 
low, the  roar  of  a  hundred  voices  came  up  the  stair- 
way, but  even  the  excited  girl  could  now  detect  some- 
thing hushed  and  solemn  in  the  sound — something 
mournful  in  the  measured  footsteps  up  the  stairs. 

374 


AN   EVENTFUL   NIGHT 

"It  is  father!"  she  cried,  with  a  flash  of  divination. 
'Something  has  happened  to  him!"  And  with  this 
new  terror  in  her  face  she  hurried  out  into  the  hall. 

Curtis  reached  her  side  just  as  the  head  of  the  pro- 
cession topped  the  stair- way. 

Brisbane,  up -borne  by  Lawson  and  a  tall  young 
stranger,  first  appeared,  followed  by  a  dozen  men, 
who  walked  two  and  two  with  bared  heads  and  seri- 
ous faces,  as  if  following  a  hearse.  The  stricken 
man's  face  was  flushed  and  knobby,  and  his  eyelids 
drooped  laxly  like  those  of  a  drunkard.  He  saw 
nothing,  and  his  breathing  was  labored. 

"  Father,  what  has  happened  ?"  called  Elsie.  "  Tell 
me — quick!" 

"A  touch  of  vertigo,"  answered  Lawson,  sooth- 
ingly. "The  doctor  says  nothing  serious." 

"  Are  you  the  doctor?"  she  turned  to  the  young  man. 

"Yes.  Don't  be  alarmed.  The  Senator  has  over- 
taxed himself  a  little,  that  is  all,  and  needs  rest. 
Show  me  his  bed,  and  we  will  make  him  comfortable." 

Elsie  led  the  way  to  the  bedroom,  while  Curtis 
stood  helplessly  facing  the  crowd  in  the  hall.  Law- 
son  relieved  the  situation  by  coming  out  a  few  mo- 
ments later  to  say : 

"Gentlemen,  the  doctor  thanks  you,  and  requests 
you  to  leave  the  Senator  to  rest  as  quietly  as  possi- 
ble." 

After  this  dismissal  had  dispersed  the  on-lookers, 
Lawson  turned  to  Curtis.  f'The  old  man's  work  as 
a  speaker  is  done.  Rather  tragic  business,  don't 
you  think?  He  was  assailing  you  with  the  utmost 
bitterness.  His  big,  right  fist  was  in  the  air  like  a 
hammer  when  he  fell ;  but  it  was  his  last  effort. " 

375 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

Curtis  seized  his  hand  and  said :  "I  envy  you  your 
chance  to  go  with  her  and  serve  her/'     His  voice 
changed.     "  The  mob !     Did  you  hear  Yarpe  and  his 
men  pass?" 
"No;  when?" 

"Not  ten  minutes  ago.  I  fear  some  mischief." 
The  doctor  appeared.  "Mr.  Lawson,  a  moment." 
As  Lawson  hurried  into  the  sick-room  a  far-off, 
faint  volley  of  pistol-shots  broke  the  hush  that  had 
settled  over  the  square.  Distant  yells  succeeded, 
accompanied  by  a  sound  as  of  some  giant  hammer- 
ing. The  young  soldier  lifted  his  head  like  a  young 
lion  listening  to  a  battle-call.  "  They  are  beating  in 
the  gates!"  he  said.  For  a  moment  he  hesitated,  but 
only  for  a  moment.  "She  is  safe!"  he  thought,  with 
a  glance  towards  Elsie's  door.  "My  man  and  the 
poor  little  wife  are  not,"  and  he  rushed  down  the 
stair-way  and  out  into  the  street  with  intent  to  find 
and  defend  his  faithful  men. 


XXXIII 

ELSIE  CONFESSES  HER  LOVE 

AS  he  paused  on  the  steps  to  the  hotel,  a  gust  of 
JT\.  bitter  rage  swept  over  him.  "What  can  I  do 
against  this  implacable  town?  Oh,  for  a  squad  of 
the  boys  in  blue!" 

The  street  and  square  were  filled  with  men  all  run- 
ning, as  to  a  fire,  from  left  to  right — a  laughing,  jest- 
ing throng.  Along  the  hitching-poles  excited  and 
jocular  cowboys  were  loosing  their  ponies  and  leap- 
ing to  their  saddles.  Some  excitable  citizen  had  be- 
gun to  ring  the  fire-bell,  and  women,  bareheaded  and 
white  with  fear,  were  lining  the  sidewalks  and  lean- 
ing from  windows.  The  town  resembled  an  ant-hill 
into  which  a  fleeing  bison  has  planted  a  foot. 

"Oh,  sir!"  cried  one  young  mother  as  she  caught 
sight  of  Curtis,  "are  the  Injuns  coming?" 

"No,"  he  replied,  bitterly,  "these  marauders  are 
not  Indians;  they  are  noble  citizens,"  and  set  off  at 
a  run  towards  the  corral  in  which  Two  Horns  and 
Crow  were  camped.  The  tumult  behind  him  grew 
fainter,  and  at  last  died  to  a  murmur,  and  only 
one  or  two  houses  showed  a  light. 

Ladue's  was  an  old  ranch  on  the  river,  around 
which  the  town  of  Pinon  had  for  twenty  years  been 
slowly  growing.  The  cabin  was  of  stone,  low  and 

377 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

strong,  and  two  sides  of  it  formed  the  corner  of  a  low 
corral  of  cottonwood  logs.  In  this  enclosure  team- 
sters (for  two  bits)  were  allowed  to  camp  and  feed 
their  horses.  A  rickety  gate  some  fifty  feet  south 
of  the  house  stood  ajar,  and  Curtis  entered  the  yard, 
calling  sharply  for  Crow  Wing  and  Two  Horns.  No 
one  replied.  Searching  the  stalls,  he  found  the 
blankets  wherein  they  had  lain,  but  the  tumult  had 
undoubtedly  called  them  forth  into  danger. 

Hurrying  to  the  house,  he  knocked  most  vigorously 
at  the  door — to  no  effect.  The  shack  was  also  empty. 
Closing  the  door  with  a  slam,  the  young  officer,  now 
thoroughly  alarmed,  turned  back  towards  the  ho- 
tel. A  vast,  confused  clamor,  growing  each  moment 
louder,  added  edge  to  his  apprehension.  The  crowd 
was  evidently  returning  from  the  jail,  jubilant  and 
remorseless.  Upon  reaching  the  corner  of  the  square 
Curtis  turne<  *  to  the  left,  with  the  design  of  encircling 
it,  hoping  to  find  the  two  redmen  looking  on  from 
a  door-way  on  the  outskirts  of  the  throng. 

He  had  crossed  but  one  side  of  the  plaza,  when  a 
band  of  cowboys  dashed  in  from  the  opposite  corner 
with  swinging  lariats,  whooping  shrilly,  in  close 
pursuit  of  a  flying  footman.  A  moment  later  a  rope 
looped,  the  fugitive  fell  and  the  horsemen  closed 
round  him  in  joyous  clamor,  like  dogs  around  a  fox. 

With  a  fear  that  this  was  one  of  his  men,  Curtis 
raised  a  great  shout,  but  his  voice  was  lost  in  the 
rush  and  roar  of  the  throng  pouring  in  towards  the  fu- 
gitive. In  fierce  rage  he  rushed  straight  towards  the 
whirling  mass  of  horsemen,  but  before  he  had  passed 
half  the  intervening  space  a  horseman  circled  the 
pavilion,  and  the  popping  of  a  revolver,  swift  yet 

378 


ELSIE  CONFESSES   HER  LOVE 

with  deliberate  pauses,  began.  Wild  yells  broke 
forth,  the  pursuers  scattered,  other  revolvers  began 
to  crack,  and  as  the  press  of  horsemen  reeled  back, 
Curtis  perceived  Calvin,  dismounted  and  bareheaded, 
with  his  back  against  the  wall  of  the  little  wooden 
band-stand,  defiant,  a  revolver  in  each  hand,  hold- 
ing the  mob  at  bay,  while  over  his  head  a  light  sput- 
tered and  sizzled. 

A  lane  seemed  to  open  for  Curtis  as  he  ran  swift- 
ly in  towards  the  writhing,  ensnared  captive  on  the 
ground.  It  was  TWTO  Horns,  struggling  with  the 
ropes  which  bound  him,  and  just  as  his  Little  Father 
bent  over  him  the  big  Tetong  freed  himself,  and,  with 
a  sliding  rush,  entered  the  shadow  by  Calvin's  side. 
Instantly  his  revolver  began  to  speak. 

Curtis,  left  alone  in  the  full  light  of  the  lamp  on 
the  pavilion,  raised  his  arms  and  shouted:  "Hold! 
Cease  firing!"  The  crowd  recognized  him  and  fell 
silent.  The  army  blue  subdued  them,  and  those  who 
had  done  the  shooting  began  to  edge  away. 

For  a  moment  the  young  soldier  could  not  speak, 
so  furious  was  he,  but  at  last  he  found  words :  "  Cow- 
ards! Is  this  your  way  of  fighting — a  hundred  to 
one?  Where  is  your  mayor?  Have  you  no  law  in 
this  town?"  He  turned  to  Calvin,  who  stood  still, 
leaning  against  the  pavilion.  "Are  you  hurt?" 

Calvin  lifted  one  dripping  hand.  "I  reckon  I'm 
punched  a  few.  My  right  arm  feels  numb,  and  the 
blood  is  fillin'  my  left  boot.  But  I'm  all  here,  sure 
thing."  But  even  as  he  spoke  he  reeled.  Curtis 
caught  him ;  he  smiled  apologetically :  "  That  left  leg 
o'  mine,  sure  feels  like  a  hitchin'-post ;  reckon  some 
one  must  o'  clipped  a  nerve  somewhere." 

379 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

Two  Horns  seized  him  by  the  other  arm,  just  as 
Winters  blustered  into  the  circle.  "  What's  going  on 
here;  who's  doin'  this  shootin'?" 

"This  is  a  good  time  to  ask  that/'  remarked  Cur- 
tis. "  Where  were  you  twenty  minutes  ago?" 

Calvin  struggled  to  get  his  right  hand  free.     "Let 
me  have  a  crack  at  the  beast!"  he  pleaded.     "I  saw 
you/'  he  said  to  Winters :  "  you  were  in  the  lynch 
ing  crowd,   you  sneak!     You  hung  round  in   the 
shadow  like  a  coyote." 

Curtis  tried  to  calm  him.  "Come,  this  won't  do, 
Calvin ;  you  are  losing  blood  and  must  have  a  doctor ; 
come  to  the  hotel." 

As  they  half-carried  him  away  the  young  rancher 
snarled  back,  like  a  wounded  wolf :  "I  disown  the 
whole  cowardly  pack  of  ye;  I  put  my  mark  on  some 
of  ye,  too." 

The  crowd  was  now  so  completely  with  Calvin 
that  Winters  hastened  to  explain :  "  Cal  is  my  deputy; 
he  was  acting  inside  his  duty !  He  was  trying  to  keep 
the  peace  and  you  had  no  business  nghtin'/'  and 
proceeded  to  arrest  some  fairly  innocent  by-standers, 
while  the  wounded  desperadoes  were  being  swiftly 
hidden  away  by  their  friends,  and  the  remaining  citi- 
zens of  the  town  talked  of  what  should  have  been 
done. 

Calvin  continued  to  explain  as  they  hurried  him 
through  the  excited  throng.  "I  tried  to  stand  'em 
off  at  the  jail,"  he  said,  "but  I  couldn't  get  near 
enough;  my  cayuse  was  used  up.  Oh,  you  was 
there!"  he  called  to  a  tall  man  with  a  new  sombrero, 
"I  saw  you,  Bill  Vawney,  and  I'll  get  you  for  it;  I've 
spotted  you!" 

380 


ELSIE  CONFESSES  HER  LOVE 

He  was  enraged  through  every  fibre  of  his  strong, 
young  body,  and  only  the  iron  grip  of  the  persistent 
men  kept  him  from  doing  battle. 

As  they  neared  the  hotel,  Curtis,  looking  up, 
glimpsed  Elsie's  white  face  at  the  window  and 
waved  his  cap  at  her.  She  clapped  her  hands  in 
joy  of  his  return,  but  did  not  smile.  The  hotel 
lobby  was  packed  with  a  silent  mass  of  men,  but 
the  landlord,  with  authoritative  voice,  called  out: 
"Clear  the  way,  gentlemen!"  and  a  lane  opened  for 
them.  "Right  in  here/'  he  added,  and  led  the  way 
to  the  parlor  bedroom.  The  Captain  and  Calvin 
were  now  most  distinguished  of  citizens;  nothing 
was  too  good  for  them. 

"Bring  a  physician/'  said  Curtis. 
'•     "Right  here,"  replied  a  cool,  clear  voice,  and  Doc- 
tor Philipps  stepped  to  Calvin's  side  and  relieved  Two 
Horns. 

The  young  rancher  sank  down  on  the  bed  limply, 
but  smiled  as  he  explained  :  "I'm  only  singed  a  little, 
doc.  They  had  me  foul.  You  see,  I  was  in  the  light, 
but  I  handed  one  or  two  of  them  something  they 
didn't  like.  I  left  a  keepsake  with  'em.  They  won't 
forget  me  soon." 

The  physician  pressed  him  back  upon  the  bed  and 
began  to  strip  his  clothes  from  him.  "Be  quiet  for 
five  minutes  and  I'll  have  you  in  shape.  We  must 
close  up  your  gashes." 

Curtis,  relieved  of  part  of  his  anxiety,  then  asked : 
4t  How  is  the  Senator?" 

" Pretty  comfortable ;  no  danger." 

"Don't  leave  me,  Major,"  called  Calvin,  as  Curtis 
toned  away  to  seek  Elsie.  "Don't  let  this  chap 

381 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

cut  me  up.  I'm  no  centipede.  I  need  all  my 
legs." 

There  was  genuine  pleading  in  the  boy's  voice, 
and  Curtis  came  back  and  took  a  chair  near  him 
while  the  doctor  probed  the  wounds  and  dressed  them. 
The  officer's  heart  was  very  tender  towards  the  reck- 
less, warm-hearted  young  rancher  as  he  watched 
his  face  whiten  and  the  lips  stiffen  in  the  effort  to 
conceal  his  pain.  "Calvin,  you've  been  loyal  all 
through/'  he  said,  "and  we  won't  forget  it." 

At  last,  when  the  wounds  were  bandaged  and  the 
worst  of  the  pain  over,  Curtis  turned  to  Two  Horns 
and  signed: 

"  Where  is  Crow  and  the  wife  of  Cut  Finger?" 

"I  do  not  know." 

"  I  will  go  find  him ;  you  remain  here.  Do  not  fear ; 
you  are  safe  now.  Sit  down  by  Calvin's  bed.  You 
will  sleep  here  to-night." 

As  he  made  his  way  through  the  close-packed 
mass  of  excited  men  in  the  lobby  and  before  the  hotel, 
Curtis  met  no  hostile  face.  It  seemed  that  all  men 
were  become  his  friends,  and  eager  to  disclaim  any 
share  in  the  mob's  action.  He  put  their  proffered 
hands  aside  and  hurried  back  to  Ladue's,  which  he 
found  close-barred  and  dark. 

"Who's  there?"  called  a  shaking  voice  as  he 
knocked. 

"  Captain  Curtis.     Where  is  Crow?" 

"In  here!"  was  the  answer,  in  joyful  voice.  As 
he  opened  the  door,  Ladue  reached  his  hand  to  the 
agent.  "My  God,  I'm  glad  it  is  youl  I  was  afraid 
you'd  been  wiped  out.  Where  is  Two  Horns?" 

Crow,  with  his  revolver  still  gripped  in  his  hand, 

382 


ELSIE  CONFESSES  HER  LOVE 

stepped  forward,  his  face  quivering  with  emotion. 
"  Little  Father,  it  is  good  to  see  you ;  you  are  not  hurt? 
Where  is  Two  Horns?" 

"Safe  in  the  big  house  with  me.  The  evil  white 
men  are  gone;  you  will  camp  here,  you  and  the  wife 
of  Cut  Finger,"  he  signed  as  he  saw  the  cowering 
form  of  the  little  wife. 

Ladue,  a  big,  hulking,  pock-marked  half-breed, 
began  to  grin.  "  I  was  a-scared ;  I  sure  was.  I 
thought  we  was  all  goin'  to  hang.  Old  Bill  Yarpe 
was  out  for  game." 

"The  better  citizens  are  in  control  now,"  replied 
Curtis.  "You  are  safe,  but  you'd  better  remain  in 
the  house  till  morning." 

As  Curtis  made  his  way  through  the  crowd  some  one 
raised  a  cheer  for"  Major  Curtis,  "and  the  cry  was  taken 
up  by  a  hundred  voices.  Indignant  citizens  shouted : 
"  We'll  stand  by  you,  Major.  We'll  see  justice  done." 

Curtis,  as  he  reached  the  stair-way,  turned  and 
coldly  said :  "  Make  your  words  good.  For  four 
days  a  mob  of  two  hundred  armed  men  have  men- 
aced the  lives  of  my  employes  and  my  wards,  and 
you  did  nothing  to  prevent  them.  I  am  glad  to. see 
you  appreciate  the  horror  and  the  disgrace  of  this 
night's  doings.  If  you  mean  what  you  say,  let  no 
guilty  man  escape.  Make  this  night  the  memorable 
end  of  lawlessness  in  your  country." 

"We  will!"  roared  a  big,  broad-faced,  black-bearded 
man,  and  the  crowd  broke  into  another  roar  of  ap- 
proval. 

Elsie  was  waiting  at  the  top  of  the  stairs,  tense 
and  white.  Her  eyes  burned  down  into  his  with  a 
singular  flame  as  she  cried  out : 

383 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"Why  didn't  you  come  to  me  sooner?  Why  do 
you  walk  so  slowly?  Are  you  hurt?  Tell  me  the 
truth!" 

"No,  only  tired/'  he  answered,  as  he  reached  her 
side. 

She  put  out  her  hand  and  touched  his  breast.  "  You 
are ;  you  are  all  bloody.  Take  off  your  coat ;  let  me 
see!" 

"No,  it's  not  mine;  it  is  poor  Calvin's;  he  was 
badly  wounded;  he  leaned  against  me." 

"  But  I  saw  you  standing  in  the  pistol-fire ;  take  it 
off,  I  say!"  Her  voice  was  almost  frenziedly  insist- 
ent. 

He  removed  his  coat  in  a  daze  of  astonishment, 
and  she  cried  out,  triumphantly:  "See!  I  was  right; 
your  shirt  is  soaked.  You  are  wounded!" 

"True  enough!"  he  replied,  looking  down  in  sur- 
prise at  a  big  stain  on  his  shoulder.  "I've  been 
'singed/  as  Calvin  calls  it.  It  can't  be  serious,  for 
I  have  not  felt  it." 

A  sudden  faintness  seized  upon  Elsie  as  she  gazed 
fixedly  upon  the  tell-tale  stain.  A  gray  whiteness 
passed  over  her  face.  "Oh,  God!  suppose  you  had 
been  killed!"  she  whispered. 

In  that  shuddering  whisper  was  the  expression 
of  the  girl's  complete  and  final  surrender,  and  Cur- 
tis did  not  question,  did  not  speak;  he  took  her  in  his 
arms  to  comfort  her. 

"My  sweetheart,  you  do  love  me!  I  doubt  no 
more.  My  poverty,  your  wealth,  what  do  they  mat- 
ter?" 

She  suddenly  started  away.  "Oh,  your  wound! 
Where  is  the  doctor?  Go  to  him!" 

3*4 


ELSIE  CONFESSES    HER  LOVE 

"The  touch  of  your  lips  has  healed  me/'  he  pro- 
tested, but  she  insisted. 

"Go!  You  are  bleeding!"  she  commanded;  and 
so,  reluctantly,  lingeringly,  with  most  unmilitary 
sloth,  he  turned  away,  made  numb  to  any  physical 
pain  by  the  tenderness  in  her  voice. 

As  the  young  surgeon  was  dressing  the  gash,  he 
said:  "Well,  Captain,  things  happen  in  the  West." 

"Yes,  the  kind  of  things  which  ought  not  to  hap- 
pen anywhere.  I  suppose  they  lynched  poor  Cuf 
Finger?" 

"  No ;  they  merely  shot  him  and  dragged  him  to 
death,  as  near  as  I  can  learn." 

Curtis  clinched  his  fists.  "  Ah,  the  devils!  Where 
is  the  body?" 

"  Back  in  the  corridor  of  the  jail." 

Curtis  pondered  the  effect  of  this  news  on  the  tribe. 
"It's  a  little  difficult  to  eliminate  violence  from  an 
inferior  race  when  such  cruelty  is  manifested  in  those 
we  call  their  teachers." 

He  sent  for  Ladue,  who  was  deep  in  discussion  of 
the  evening's  events  with  Crow  and  Two  Horns,  and 
said  to  him:  "Do  not  tell  the  wife  of  Cut  Finger  of 
the  death  of  her  husband ;  wait  till  morning.  What 
the  sheriff  will  do  with  the  body  I  do  not  know.  To- 
morrow say  to  her,  '  All  is  over ;  go  with  the  agent.' 
It  will  do  her  no  good  to  remain  here.  Good-night  I" 

It  was  hard  to  realize  in  the  peaceful  light  of  the 
following  morning  that  the  little  square  had  been  the 
scene  of  so  much  cruelty  and  riot.  The  townspeople 
came  forth  yawning  and  lax,  and  went  about  their 
duties  mechanically.  Crow  Wing  and  Two  Horns, 

**  385 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

ivho  would  camp  nowhere  but  on  the  floor  of  Curtis 's 
room,  were  awake  at  dawn,  conversing  in  signs,  in 
order  not  to  disturb  the  Little  Father. 

He,  waking  a  little  later,  called  to  them  in  greet- 
ing and  said :  "  Now  all  is  quiet.  The  white  men  are 
sorry.  You  are  safe.  Go  to  Paul's,  eat  and  get 
ready.  We  must  start  at  once  for  the  agency.  Cut 
Finger  did  an  ill  deed,  and  brought  trouble  on  us  all. 
Now  he  is  dead,  but  good  may  come  out  of  it.  Go, 
tell  the  little  wife ;  be  gentle  with  her ;  say  to  her  I 
wish  her  to  go  home  with  us." 

Silently,  soberly,  the  two  redmen  left  the  room, 
and  Curtis  dressed  and  went  at  once  to  find  Calvin. 
The  boy  looked  up  as  Curtis  entered  and  cheerily 
called:  "Hello,  Major,  I've  had  a  lively  dream.  I 
dreamed  there  was  some  gun-play  goin'  on  out  in 
the  square  and  you  and  I  were  in  it.  Was  that  right?" 

"I've  a  sore  place  here  on  my  shoulder  that  says 
you  are.  How  do  you  feel?  Can  you  travel?  If 
you  can,  I'll  take  you  home  in  my  buckboard." 

"I  can  travel  all  right,  but  I  haven't  any  home  to 
go  to.  The  old  man  and  I  haven't  hitched  very  well 
for  a  year,  and  this  will  just  about  turn  me  out  on 
the  range." 

"  Well,  come  home  with  me,  then ;  Jennie  will  soon 
have  you  all  right  again ;  she's  a  famous  nurse,  and 
will  look  out  for  you  till  your  mother  comes  over,  as 
she  will.  Mothers  don't  go  back  on  their  boys." 

A  curious  dimness  came  into  the  bold,  keen  eyes 
of  the  wounded  youth.  "  Major,  that  '11  suit  me  bet- 
ter than  anything  else  I  know." 

"  Very  well,  if  the  doctor  says  you  can  travel,  we'll 
go  along  together,"  replied  Curtis. 


ELSIE  CONFESSES  HER  LOVE 

He  was  eager  to  see  Elsie  and  was  pacing  impa- 
iiently  up  and  down  the  hall  when  Lawson  met  him, 
smiling,  imperturbable.  "  Well,  Captain,  how  are 
you  this  morning?" 

"  Have  you  seen  Miss  Brisbane?'* 

"No;  she  is  still  asleep,  I  hope.  The  Senator  is 
conscious,  but  in  a  curious  state ;  seems  not  to  know 
or  care  where  he  is ;  his  troubles  are  over." 

Even  as  he  spoke  a  maid  came  from  Elsie's  room 
to  say  that  her  mistress  would  breakfast  in  her  own 
parlor,  and  wished  both  Mr.  Lawson  and  Captain 
Curtis  to  join  her  in  half  an  hour. 

Lawson,  in  discussing  the  events  of  the  night,  was 
decidedly  optimistic.  "This  outbreak  will  bring 
about  a  reaction,''  he  said,  with  conviction.  "You 
will  find  every  decent  man  on  your  side  to-day." 

"  I  hope  so/'  responded  Curtis.  "  But  last  night's 
mob  made  me  long  for  my  Gray- Horse  Troop." 

When  they  entered  the  little  parlor  Elsie  rose  and 
passed  straight  to  Curtis  without  coquetry  or  con- 
cealment. "How  is  your  wound?  Did  you  sleep?" 

He  assured  her  that  he  was  almost  as  well  as  ever, 
and  not  till  she  had  convinced  herself  of  the  truth  did 
she  turn  to  Lawson.  "Osborne,  I  can  never  thank 
you  enough  for  your  good,  kind  help." 

Osborne  protested  that  he  had  done  nothing  wortl? 
considering,  and  they  took  seats  at  the  table — a  sub- 
dued and  quiet  group,  for  Lawson  was  still  suffering 
from  his  loss,  and  the  lovers  could  not  conceal  from 
themselves  the  knowledge  that  this  was  their  last  meet- 
ing for  many  long  months.  Elsie  was  a  being  trans- 
formed, so  tender,  so  wilful,  so  strangely  sweet  and 
womanly  was  she  in  every  smile  and  in  every  gesture 

387 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

They  dwelt  upon  impersonal  topics  so  long  as  Law- 
son  remained;  but  he,  being  ill  at  ease,  hastened 
with  his  coffee,  and  soon  made  excuse  to  withdraw, 
leaving  them  alone.  For  a  moment  they  faced  each 
other,  and  then,  with  a  wistful  cadence  in  his  voice, 
Curtis  said:  "Dear  girl,  it's  hard  to  say  good-bye 
now,  just  when  I  have  found  you,  but  I  must  return 
at  once." 

"Oh,  must  you?  Can't  you  wait  till  we  go — this 
afternoon?" 

"  No ;  I  must  be  the  first  to  carry  this  dreadful  news 
to  my  people." 

"You  are  right,  of  course;  but  I'll  miss  you  so,  and 
you  need  me.  Say  you  need  me!" 

"Need  you!  Of  course  I  do;  but  you  cannot  stay 
with  me  and  I  cannot  go  with  you." 

"I  know,  I  know!"  she  sighed,  resignedly.  "But 
it  hurts  all  the  same." 

"  This  tumult  will  die  out  soon,"  he  went  on,  in  the 
effort  to  comfort  her,  "and  then  I  can  come  on  to 
Washington  for  a  visit.  I  warn  you  I've  lost  all  my 
scruples ;  seventeen  hundred  million  dollars  are  as 
straws  in  my  path,  now  that  I  know  you  really  care 
for  me." 

"I  don't  feel  rich  now;  I  feel  very  poor.  You 
must  come  to  Washington  soon." 

"I  warn  you  that  when  I  come  I  will  ask  hard 
things  of  you!"  He  rose  and  his  face  darkened. 
"But  my  duty  calls!" 

She  came  to  him  and  yielded  herself  to  his  embrace. 
"  My  queenly,  beautiful  girl !  It  is  sweet  to  have  you 
here  in  my  arms;  but  I  must  say  good-bye — good- 
bye." 

3S8 


ELSIE  CONFESSES    HER  LOVE 

In  spite  of  his  words  he  held  her  till  she,  with  an 
instinctive  movement,  pushed  from  his  arms.  "Go 
—  go  quick!"  she  exclaimed,  in  a  low,  imperative 
voice. 

Not  staying  to  wonder  at  the  meaning  of  her  strange 
dismissal,  he  turned  and  left  the  room  without  look- 
ing back. 

Only  after  he  had  helped  Calvin  into  the  wagon, 
and  had  taken  his  seat  beside  him,  did  the  young  sol- 
dier lift  his  eyes  in  search  of  her  face  at  the  window. 
She  was  looking  down  upon  him,  tears  were  on  her 
cheeks,  but  she  blew  a  kiss  from  her  finger-tips,  not 
caring  if  all  the  world  were  there  to  see. 


XXXIV 

SEED-TIME 

A3  Lawson  predicted,  the  very  violence  of  this  out- 
burst of  racial  hatred  was  its  cure.  A  reaction 
set  in.  The  leaders  of  Brisbane's  party,  with  loud 
shouts,  ordered  their  harriers  back  to  their  lairs,  while 
the  great  leader  himself,  oblivious  to  daylight  or  to 
darkness,  was  hurried  home  to  Washington.  The 
Tetongs  returned  to  their  camps  and  hay-making, 
the  troops  drilled  peacefully  each  afternoon  in  the 
broiling  heat,  while  Curtis  bent  to  his  work  again 
with  a  desperate  sort  of  energy,  as  if  by  so  doing  he 
could  shorten  the  long,  hot  days,  which  seemed  well- 
nigh  interminable  after  the  passing  of  Elsie  and  her 
friends. 

In  a  letter  announcing  their  safe  arrival  in  Wash- 
ington, Elsie  said: 

"  I  am  going  to  see  the  President  about  you,  as  soon  as 
he  returns  from  the  mountains.  Papa  is  gaining,  but  takes 
no  interest  in  anything.  He  is  pitifully  weak,  but  the 
doctor  thinks  he  will  recover  if  he  will  only  rest.  His  brain 
is  worn  out  and  needs  complete  freedom  from  care.  Con- 
gress has  adjourned  finally.  I  am  told  that  your  enemies 
expect  to  secure  a  court-martial  on  the  charge  of  usurping 
the  authority  of  the  sheriff.  Osborne  says  not  to  worry, 
for  nothing  will  be  done  now  till  the  President  returns,  and 
he  is  confident  that  the  department  will  sustain  you  —  the 

390 


SEED-TIME 

fact  that  the  violence  you  feared  did  actually  take  place  has 
robbed  your  enemies  of  their  power." 

Nevertheless,  the  fight  against  the  Tetongs  and 
himself  went  on  with  ever-increasing  rancor  during 
July  and  August,  and  each  Congressional  candidate 
was  sharply  interrogated  as  to  his  attitude  towards 
the  removal  bill.  The  anti-administration  papers 
boldly  said:  "If  we  win  (and  we  will)  we'll  cut  the 
comb  of  this  bantam.  We'll  break  his  sabre  over 
his  back." 

To  this  the  opposition  made  answer:  "We're  no 
lovers  of  the  redman,  but  Captain  Curtis  is  an  honor- 
able soldier,  doing  his  duty,  and  it  will  not  be  easy  for 
you,  even  if  victorious,  to  order  a  court-martial." 

This  half-hearted  defence  gave  courage  to  those 
who  took  the  high  ground  that  the  time  for  lynch- 
ing had  gone  by.  "The  Tetongs  have  rights  which 
every  decent  man  is  bound  to  respect,  no  matter  how 
much  he  personally  dislikes  the  redskin." 

During  the  last  days  of  August  a  letter  came  from 
Elsie,  full  of  comforting  assurances,  both  public  and 
private,  being  more  intimate  and  tender  in  tone  than 
any  that  had  preceded  it,  and  full  of  sprightly  hu- 
mor too.  It  began: 

"  MY  DEAR  SOLDIER,— I've  been  so  busy  fighting  your 
enemies  I  couldn't  write  a  letter.  I've  met  both  the  Secre- 
tary and  the  commissioner — their  desks  are  said  to  be  full 
of  screeds  against  you — and  I've  been  to  see  the  President  ! 
He  wasn't  a  bit  gallant,  but  he  listened.  He  glowered  at 
me  (not  unkindly)  while  I  told  your  story.  I'm  afraid  I 
didn't  phrase  it  very  well,  but  he  listened.  I  brought  out 
all  the  good  points  I  could  think  of.  I  said :  '  Mr.  President, 

391 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

Captain  Curtis  is  the  most  disinterested  man  in  the  Indian 
service.  He  is  sacrificing  everything  for  his  plans. '  '  What 
are  his  plans?'  he  asked,  so  abruptly  that  I  jumped.  I  then 
spoke  learnedly  of  irrigating  ditches  and  gardens;  you 
would  have  laughed  had  you  heard  me,  and  I  said :  *  If  he 
is  ordered  back  to  his  regiment,  Mr.  President,  these  poor 
people  will  be  robbed  again/  '  Does  Mr.  Blank,  of  New 
York,  endorse  Captain  Curtis?'  he  asked.  I  didn't  see  what 
this  led  to,  but  I  answered  that  I  did  not  know.  '  He's  a 
friend  of  yours,  isn't  he?'  he  asked.  '  Whom  do  you  mean?' 
I  said,  and  my  cheeks  burned.  Then  he  smiled.  '  You 
needn't  worry,'  he  said,  banging  the  table  with  his  fist. 
'I'll  keep  Captain  Curtis  where  he  is  if  every  politician  in 
the  State  petitions  for  his  removal.'  I  liked  his  wooden 
cuss-word,  and  I  thanked  him  and  jumped  up  and  hurried 
home  to  write  this  letter.  The  Secretary  told  Osborne  that 
the  bill  for  buying  out  the  settlers  would  certainly  go  through 
next  winter,  and  that  your  plans  were  approved  by  the 
whole  department.  So,  you  see,  you  are  master  of  the  situa- 
tion, and  can  plan  as  grandly  as  you  wish — the  entire  res- 
ervation is  yours. 

"  It  is  still  hot  here,  and  now  that  my  '  lobbying  '  is  done, 
I  am  going  to  the  sea-shore,  where  papa  is,  and  I  know  I 
shall  wish  you  were  with  me  to  enjoy  it.  I  am  so  sorry  for 
you  and  Jennie,  my  heart  aches  for  you.  Think  of  it! 
The  cool,  beautiful  ocean  will  be  singing  me  to  sleep  to-night. 
I  wish  I  could  send  you  some  fruit  and  some  ices;  I  know 
you  are  longing  for  them. 

"  I  wonder  how  it  will  all  turn  out?  Will  you  be  East  this 
winter?  Perhaps  I'll  help  you  celebrate  the  opening  of 
your  new  gardens,  next  spring.  Wouldn't  you  like  me  to 
come  out  and  break  a  bottle  of  wine  over  the  first  plough 
or  water-gate  or  something?  If  you  do,  maybe  I'll  come. 
If  you  write,  address  me  at  the  Brunswick,  Crescent  Beach. 
I  wish  you  could  come  and  see  me  here — you  look  so  hand» 
some  in  your  uniform." 

392 


SEED-TIME 

The  soldier's  answer  was  not  a  letter,  it  was  a 
packet!  He  began  by  writing  sorrowfully : 

"  DEAREST  GIRL,— I  fear  I  shall  not  be  able  to  get  away 
this  winter.  There  is  so  much  here  that  requires  my  care. 
If  the  bill  passes,  the  people  will  be  stirred  up ;  if  it  doesn't 
pass,  the  settlers  will  be  uneasy,  and  I  shall  be  most  im- 
peratively necessary  here.  Nothing  would  be  sweeter  to 
me  than  a  visit  to  you  at  the  beach.  As  *  boy  I  knew  the 
sea-shore  intimately,  and  to  wall  the  sands  with  you  would 
be  to  revive  those  sweet,  careless  boy  memories  and  unite 
them  with  the  deepest  emotions  of  my  life — my  love  for  you, 
dear  one.  It  almost  makes  me  willing  to  resign.  In  a 
sense  it  would  be  worth  it.  I  would  resign  only  I  know  I 
am  not  losing  the  delight  forever  —  I  am  only  postponing 
it  a  year. 

"  I  have  thought  pretty  deeply  on  my  problem,  dearest, 
and  I've  come  to  this  conclusion :  When  two  people  love  each 
other  as  we  do,  neither  poverty  nor  riches — nothing  but  duty, 
should  separate  them.  Your  wealth  troubled  me  at  first. 
I  knew  I  could  not  give  you  the  comforts — not  to  say  luxuries 
— you  were  accustomed  to,  and  I  knew  that  my  life  as  a  sol- 
dier would  always  make  even  a  barrack  a  place  of  uncertain 
residence.  I  must  stand  to  my  guns  here  till  I  have  won 
my  fight ;  then  I  may  ask  for  a  transfer  to  some  field  where 
life  would  not  be  so  hard.  If  only  there  were  ways  to  use 
your  great  wealth  in  helping  these  people  I  would  rejoice 
to  be  your  agent  in  the  matter. 

"  I  am  a  penniless  suitor,  but  a  good  soldier.  I  can  say 
that  without  egotism.  I  think  I  could  have  acquired  money 
had  I  started  out  that  way;  of  course  I  cannot  do  it  now. 
Perhaps  my  knowledge  and  training  will  come  to  supplement 
and  give  power  to  your  wealth.  I  must  work.  I  am  not 
one  to  be  idle.  If  I  go  on  working — devising — in  my  own 
way,  then  my  self-respect  would  not  be  daunted,  even  though 
you  were  worth  ten  millions  instead  of  one.  I  am  fitted  to 

393 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

be  the  head  of  a  department — like  that  of  Forestry,  or  Civil 
Engineering.  After  my  work  here  is  finished  I  may  ask 
for  something  of  that  kind,  but  I  am  resolved  to  do  my  duty 
here  first.  I  like  your  suggestion  about  the  water-gate. 
I  hold  you  to  that  word,  my  lady.  One  year  from  now, 
when  my  gardens  are  ready  for  the»sickle,  I  will  have  the 
criers  announce  a  harvest-home  festival,  and  you  must  come 
and  dance  with  me  among  my  people,  and  then,  perhaps, 
I  will  take  a  little  vacation,  and  return  with  you  to  the  East, 
and  be  happy  with  you  among  the  joyous  of  the  earth  for  a 
little  season.  Beyond  that  I  dare  not  plan." 

The  administration  was  sustained,  and  Brisbane's 
forces  were  beaten  back.  The  better  elements  of  the 
State,  long  scattered,  disintegrated,  and  without  voice, 
spoke,  and  with  majesty,  rebuking  the  cruelty,  the 
barbarism,  and  the  blatant  assertion  of  men  like  Mus- 
grove  and  Streeter,  who  had  made  the  State  odious. 
Even  Winters,  the  sheriff,  was  defeated,  and  a  fairly 
humane  and  decent  citizen  put  in  his  place,  and  this 
change,  close  down  to  the  people,  was  most  signif- 
icant of  all.  "Now  I  have  hope  of  the  courts/'  said 
Curtis  to  Maynard. 

If  the  Tetongs  did  not  at  once  apprehend  the  peace 
and  comfort  which  the  defeat  of  Brisbane's  gang  and 
the  passage  of  the  purchase  bill  assured  to  them,  they 
deeply  appreciated  the  significance  of  the  immediate 
withdrawal  of  the  settlers.  They  rejoiced  in  full- 
toned  song  as  their  implacable  and  sleepless  enemies 
drove  their  heavily  laden  wagons  across  the  line, 
leaving  their  farms,  sheds,  and  houses  to  the  gov- 
ernment for  the  use  of  the  needy  tribe. 

The  urgency  of  the  case  being  fully  pleaded,  the 
whole  readjustment  was  permitted  to  be  made  the 

394 


SEED-TIME 

following  spring,  and  the  powers  of  the  agent  and  his 
employes  were  taxed  to  the  uttermost.  When  the 
order  actually  came  to  hand,  Curtis  mounted  his 
horse  and  rode  from  camp  to  camp,  carrying  the 
good  news ;  calling  the  members  of  each  band  around 
him,  he  told  the  story  of  their  victory. 

"Your  days  of  hunger  and  cold  will  soon  be  over," 
he  said.  "  The  white  man  has  gone  from  the  reser- 
vation. The  water  of  the  streams,  the  ploughed  fields, 
are  all  yours.  Now  we  must  set  to  work.  Every 
one  will  have  good  ground ;  all  will  share  alike,  and 
every  one  must  work.  We  must  show  the  •  Great 
Father  at  Washington  that  we  are  glad  of  his  kind- 
ness. Our  friends  will  not  be  ashamed  when  they 
come  to  vsee  us,  and  look  upon  our  corn  and  wheat." 

Every  man,  woman,  and  child  did  as  they  had 
promised.  They  laid  hands  to  the  duties  appointed 
them,  and  did  so  merrily.  They  moved  at  once  to 
the  places  designated.  A  mighty  shifting  of  dwell- 
ings took  place  first  of  all,  and  when  this  was  finished 
they  set  to  work.  They  built  fences,  they  dug  ditches, 
they  ploughed  and  they  planted,  cheery  as  robins. 
Even  the  gaunt  old  women  lifted  their  morose  faces 
to  the  sun  and  muttered  unaccustomed  thanks.  The 
old  men  no  longer  sat  in  complaining  council,  but 
talked  of  the  wonderful  things  about  to  be. 

"  Ho  1  have  you  heard  ?"  cried  one.  "  Grayman  lives 
in  the  house  the  white  man  has  left ;  Elk  too.  Two 
Horns  sleeps  in  the  house  above  Grayman,  and  is  not 
afraid.  Ah,  it  is  wonderful!" 

The  more  thoughtful  dwelt  in  imagination  on  the 
reservation  completely  fenced,  and  saw  the  hills 
swarming  with  cattle  as  in  the  olden  time  it  swarmed 

395 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

with  the  wild,  black  buffalo.  They  helped  at  the  gar- 
dens, these  old  men,  and  as  they  rested  on  their  hoes 
and  listened  to  the  laughter  of  the  women  and  chil- 
dren, they  said  one  to  the  other:  "Our  camp  is  as  it 
was  in  the  days  when  game  was  plenty.  Every  one 
is  smiling.  Our  worst  days  are  over.  The  white 
man's  road  is  very  long,  and  runs  into  a  strange 
country,  but  while  Swift  Eagle  leads  we  follow." 

There  was  commotion  in  every  corral,  where  long- 
haired men  in  leggings  and  with  feathered  ornaments 
in  their  hats,  were  awkwardly  breaking  fiery  ponies 
to  drive,  for  teams  were  in  sharp  demand.  The  young 
men  who  formerly  raced  horses,  for  lack  of  other 
things  to  do,  and  in  order  not  to  die  of  inertness,  now 
became  the  hilarious  teamsters  of  each  valley.  Ev- 
ery person,  white  or  red,  who  could  give  instruc- 
tion in  ditching  and  planting,  was  employed  each 
hour  of  the  day.  The  various  camps  were  as  busy 
as  ant-hills,  and  as  full  of  cheer  as  a  flock  of  mag- 
pies. 

Curtis  was  everywhere,  superintending  the  moving 
of  barns,  the  building  of  cabins,  and  the  laying  out 
of  lands.  Each  night  he  returned  to  his  bed  so  tired 
he  could  not  lie  flat  enough,  but  happy  in  the  knowl- 
edge that  some  needed  and  permanent  improvement 
had  that  day  been  made.  Lawson,  faithful  to  his 
post,  came  on  from  Washington,  and  was  a  comfort 
in  ways  less  material  than  wielding  a  hoe.  He  went 
about  encouraging  the  people  at  their  work,  and  his 
words  had  the  quality  of  a  poem. 

"You  see  how  it  is!"  he  said.  "You  need  not 
despair.  It  is  not  true  that  the  redmen  are  to  vanish 
from  the  earth.  They  are  now  to  be  happy  and  have 

396 


SEED-TIME 

plenty  of  food.  The  white  people,  at  last,  have  found 
out  the  way  to  help  you/' 

Maynard  got  a  short  leave  of  absence,  and  came 
over  to  see  "  the  hustle/'  as  he  called  it,  and  to  visit 
Jennie,  who  still  refused  to  leave  her  post,  though 
she  had  practically  consented  to  his  proposal.  "  We 
will  see/'  she  had  said.  "  If  George  marries,  then  I 
will  feel  free  to  go  with  you;  but  not  now/' 

Maynard  expressed  the  same  astonishment  as 
ever.  "  A  man  may  fight  a  people  a  lifetime  and 
never  really  know  'em.  Now  I  consider  it  marvel- 
lous the  way  these  devils  work." 

Calvin,  after  his  recovery,  came  seldom  to  the 
agency.  He  recognized  the  power  and  the  fitness  of 
Captain  Maynard's  successful  courtship,  and  though 
Jennie  wrote  twice  inviting  him  to  call,  he  did  not 
come,  and  did  not  even  reply  till  she  had  almost  for- 
gotten her  own  letters.  In  a  very  erratic  and  laborious 
screed  he  conveyed  his  regrets.  "I'm  powfle  bizzy 
just  now.  The  old  man  is  gone  East,  an'  that  thros 
all  the  work  of  the  ranch  onto  me.  Ime  .just  as 
mutch  obliged."  Jennie  did  not  laugh  at  this  letter; 
she  put  it  away  with  a  sigh — "  Poor  boy  1" 


XXXV 

THE  BATTLE  WITH  THE  WEEDS 

T3ETWEEN  the  planting  and  the  reaping  lay  the 
-D  sun -smitten  summer-time  and  a  battle  with 
the  weeds !  It  was  a  period  demanding  patience  and 
understanding  in  Curtis,  for  as  the  first  flush  of  en- 
thusiasm over  the  sowing  died  away,  apathy  and 
indifference  sprang  up  naturally  as  thistles.  These 
childlike  souls  said :  "  Behold  we  have  done  our  part, 
now  let  Mother  Earth  and  the  Father  Sun  bring  forth 
the  harvest.  We  cannot  ripen  the  grain  ;  we  can  only 
wait.  Besides,  we  are  weary/' 

To  them  harvest  should  follow  seeding  without 
further  effort.  They  were  like  boys  wearied  with 
waiting  for  the  trees  to  grow.  The  seed  and  the  ap- 
ple were  too  far  apart.  Curtis,  understanding  this 
lack  of  training  in  their  lives,  did  not  allow  himself 
to  express  the  impatience  he  sometimes  felt.  He 
told  them  that  the  new  life  they  were  to  lead  in- 
volved constant  care,  but  care  would  bring  a  reward. 
"  In  the  old  days  when  you  hunted,  these  things  were 
not  so."  He  also  made  honorable  examples  of  men 
like  Two  Horns  and  Crane's  Voice,  who  kept  their 
gardens  clean  of  all  noxious  plants. 

He  organized  mimic  war-parties.  "  To-day,"  he 
said,  "  the  warriors  of  Elk  will  go  forth  with  me  against 

398 


THE  BATTLE  WITH  THE  WEEDS 

these  evil  ones,  the  weeds.  Each  man  will  be  armed 
with  a  bright  hoe.  Elk,  old  as  he  is,  will  lead,  and  I 
will  go  by  his  side.  We  will  work  busily  till  the  sun 
has  climbed  half-way  to  his  hill;  then  we  will  smoke." 

His  knowledge  of  their  needs,  their  habits,  their 
modes  of  thinking,  made  all  that  he  did  successful. 
He  allowed  the  women  to  bring  cool  drinks,  flavored 
with  herbs,  and  to  build  little  bowers  to  shade  their 
sons  and  husbands  from  the  fierce  sun  while  they 
rested.  There  was  grumbling,  there  was  envy,  natu- 
rally, but  less  than  he  expected. 

On  the  first  day  of  July  he  was  confident  of  a  big 
crop,  and  wrote  to  Elsie,  saying :  "  The  potatoes  are 
in  bloom,  the  wheat  is  waving  in  the  wind  like  a 
green  sea.  I  am  waiting/' 

To  this  she  replied:  "Papa's  mind  turns  to  the 
mountains  these  hot  days,  and  so  we  are  coming ; 
also  my  heart  yearns  for  a  certain  soldier  in  the  West 
— a  commander  of  shining  hoes  and  a  leader  of  de- 
structive red  ploughmen.  I  ought,  for  my  own  peace 
and  comfort,  to  forget  this  singular  creature;  but, 
alas!  I  cannot.  My  perplexity  grows  daily.  I  long 
to  see  him,  yet  I  am  afraid!" 

These  words  made  him  tireless  and  of  Job-like 
patience.  "You  need  not  wait  till  the  harvest  is 
ended,"  he  wrote,  in  reply.  "Come  and  watch  the 
grain  ripen,  so  that  you  will  be  garmented  duly  and 
ready  for  the  feast.  Moreover,  we  will  snatch  so 
many  more  days  of  joy  out  of  the  maw  of  devour- 
ing  time." 

To  this  she  answered :  "  Your  expressed  reasons 
are  not  overwhelming,  but  as  the  sun  is  scorching 
now,  we  leave  soon.  We  will  reach  Pinon  City  in 

399 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

about  ten  days.  Father  is  quite  well,  but  restless 
with  the  heat.  I  am  well,  but  restless,  for  other  rea- 
sons. I  don't  see  that  the  problem  of  our  lives  is  any 
nearer  solution,  do  you?  What  can  I  do?  What 
can  you  do?  Is  there  any  common  ground?" 

"  There  are  no  problems  now  that  you  are  coming/' 
he  replied. 

It  was  with  a  deep  surprise  and  joy  that  she  found 
herself  trembling  before  each  of  his  letters.  All  the 
old-time  ecstasy  and  breathless  passion  of  her  girl- 
hood came  back  to  her,  but  enlarged,  and  based 
deeper,  a  woman's  care  and  introspection  giving  it 
greater  significance  and  power. 

The  next  day  after  Elsie's  definite  promise  Curtis 
rode  over  to  the  first  camp  and  called  the  people  round 
him  and  said : 

"Next  week  we  will  hold  our  feast  to  give  thanks 
for  the  good  things  the  earth  has  given  to  us,  and 
after  we  have  councilled  together  we  will  feast  and 
have  a  dance.  Let  everything  be  in  order.  Come 
in  your  finest  dress.  Let  every  garment  be  as  it  was 
of  old.  Let  the  young  girls  be  very  beautiful  in 
whitened  buckskin  and  beads.  I  do  not  despise 
your  old-time  dress;  I  like  it.  Hereafter,  when  you 
work  you  will  need  to  wear  white  man's  clothes,  for 
they  are  more  comfortable ;  but  when  you  wish  to  have 
a  good  time,  then  your  old  dress  will  be  pleasant.  I 
do  not  ask  you  to  forget  the  old  time.  It  is  past,  but 
it  is  sweet  to  you.  I  want  you  to  be  happy,  for  I 
am  happy." 


XXXVI 

THE  HARVEST-HOME 

THE  hay-harvest  was  still  going  on  when  Cur* 
tis  and  Jennie  drove  down  the  valley  to  meet 
Elsie  and  Lawson  at  Pinon  City.  "  Father  is  much 
changed/'  Elsie  had  written.  "You  will  hardly 
know  him  now.  He  has  forgotten  all  about  his 
campaign;  he  remembers  you  only  momentarily,  so 
that  you  need  not  feel  any  resentment.  He  will 
probably  meet  you  as  if  he  had  never  seen  you  be- 
fore. Please  do  not  show  any  surprise,  no  matter 
what  he  says/' 

Curtis  expected  to  find  Brisbane  a  poor  shambling 
wreck  of  a  man,  morose  and  sorrowful  to  look  upon, 
and  his  astonishment  was  correspondingly  profound 
as  the  ex-Senator  descended  from  the  train.  His 
step  was  vigorous,  and  his  face  was  placid  and  of 
good  color;  thus  much  the  young  soldier  took  in  at 
a  glance,  then  he  forgot  all  the  world  in  the  radiant 
face  of  his  heart's  beloved. 

As  she  put  up  her  lips  to  be  kissed,  Elsie's  eyes 
were  dim  with  tears,  and  she  hurried  to  Jennie  as  if 
for  relief  from  her  emotion.  When  she  turned,  her 
father  was  shaking  hands  urbanely  with  Curtis. 

"Glad  to  meet  you,  sir/'  he  said, in  the  tone  of  the 
suave  man  of  position.  "I  didn't  catch  the  name." 
*  401 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

A  spasm  of  pain  crossed  Elsie's  face.  "This  is 
Mr.  Curtis,  papa.  Don't  you  remember  Captain 
Curtis?" 

"Ah,  yes,  so  it  is/'  he  replied.  "I  remember  you 
spoke  of  him  once  before.  I  am  very  glad  to  make 
your  acquaintance — very  glad  indeed,  sir." 

To  meet  this  calm  politeness  in  a  man  who,  in  his 
right  mind,  would  have  refused  to  shake  hands,  was 
deeply  moving  to  the  young  officer.  To  all  outward 
appearance  the  great  promoter  was  the  same,  and  on 
all  matters  concerning  his  first  campaign  and  first 
term,  and  especially  on  the  events  of  his  early  life, 
he  spoke  with  freedom,  even  with  humor,  but  of  the 
incidents  of  the  later  campaign  he  had  no  recollec- 
tion. That  he  had  been  defeated  and  humbled  seem- 
ed also  to  have  left  no  lasting  mark  upon  his  mind. 

"The  fact  is,  my  memory  has  grown  very  bad/' 
he  explained.  "  I  can  remember  faces  in  a  dim  way, 
but  anything  that  is  said  to  me  I  forget  instantly/' 

For  a  time  the  thought  of  Brisbane's  mental  decay 
threw  a  gloom  over  the  party,  but  Elsie  said :  "  Please 
don't  mind  him.  I  have  reached  a  certain  philo- 
sophic calm  in  the  matter.  I  can  do  him  no  good  by 
sorrowing.  I  have,  therefore,  determined  to  be  as 
happy  as  1  can." 

Curtis  cheerfully  called :  "  We  must  start  at  once. 
Will  your  father  go  with  us?" 

"  Oh  no !  I  am  afraid  to  have  him  undertake  that. 
He  will  go  on  to  Copper  City  with  his  secretary." 

"Of  course,  that  is  best,"  replied  Curtis,  vastly  re- 
lieved. 

Brisbane  parted  with  Elsie  quite  matter-of-factly, 
and  his  urbanity  remained  unbroken  as  he  shook 

402 


THE    HARVEST-HOME 

hands  with  Curtis.  "Pleased  to  have  met  you,  sir/' 
he  said,  and,  in  spite  of  her  resolution,  the  tears  filled 
the  daughter's  eyes.  The  old  warrior's  smiling  for- 
getfulness  of  feuds  was  tragic. 

As  they  rode  homeward,  Curtis  and  Elsie  sat  as 
before  on  the  forward  seat,  and  he  detailed  what  had 
taken  place  at  the  agency,  and  she  listened,  genuinely 
absorbed.  She  laughed  and  she  wept  a  little  as  his 
story  touched  on  the  pathetic  incidents  of  the  year. 

"  You  are  like  a  father  confessor,"  she  said.  "  You 
hold  in  your  hands  the  most  intimate  secrets  of  your 
people.  I  don't  understand  your  patience  with  them. 
Do  you  feel  that  you  have  made  your  demonstration?" 

"  What  I  have  done  is  written  in  lines  of  gold  and 
green  on  the  earth.  The  sky  is  too  bright  to  remem- 
ber my  gray  days,"  he  replied,  most  exultantly. 

She  looked  at  him  quizzically.  "  You  are  develop- 
ing new  and  singular  powers." 

"I  have  a  new  and  singular  teacher." 

"New?"  she  queried. 

"  New  to  me,"  he  answered,  and  in  such  enigmatic 
way  they  expressed  their  emotion  while  Lawson  and 
Jennie  chatted  gayly  and  in  clear  prose  behind.  Part 
of  the  time  Elsie  drove,  and  that  gave  Curtis  an  ex- 
cuse to  lay  his  hand  on  her  wrist  when  he  wished  her 
to  drive  slow.  At  the  half-way  house  she  shuddered 
and  made  a  mouth  of  disgust.  "Let's  hurry  past 
here ;  I  have  a  bad  heart  when  I  think  of  those  horri- 
ble men." 

"They  are  thinning  out,  and  this  ranch  has 
'changed  hands'  as  they  say  on  restaurant  signs 
in  Chicago.  Here's  our  north  line  of  fence,"  he  said, 
as  they  came  to  &  big,  new  gate.  "I  hastened  to 

403 


THE  CAPTAIN  OP  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

build  this  at  once  before  anything  happened  to  pre- 
vent. This  keeps  the  stock  of  the  white  man  out, 
and  has  stopped  all  friction." 

As  they  came  in  sight  of  the  flag-pole,  Elsie  cried 
out :  "  Just  think !  This  is  the  third  time  I  have  driven 
up  this  road  in  this  way.  Twice  with  you." 

"  I  know  it  is  wonderful.  I  don't  intend  you  to  go 
away  without  me." 

She  was  ignoring  every  one  of  his  suggestions 
now,  but  the  flush  of  her  cheek  and  a  certain  soft- 
ness in  her  eyes  encouraged  him  to  go  on. 

As  they  alighted  at  the  door,  Jennie  remained  to 
look  after  her  bundles,  and  Curtis  and  Elsie  entered 
the  library  together.  He  who  had  waited  so  eagerly 
for  this  moment  turned  and  folded  her  close  in  his 
arms.  "I  need  you,  sweetest!  Ill  never  let  you  go 
again.  Never!" 

This  was  her  moment  to  protest ;  but  she  was  silent, 
with  her  face  against  his  shoulder. 

Jennie  bounced  into  the  hall  with  a  great  deal  of 
premonitory  clatter  and  hurried  Elsie  to  her  room  to 
rest. 

"And  now  you're  to  be  my  really  truly  sister," 
she  said,  closing  the  door  behind  her. 

"  I  think  — -  George,"  she  hesitated  a  little,  and 
blushed  before  speaking  his  name,  "expects  it — 
rather  confidently." 

" Then  give  me  a  good  hug,  you  glorious  thing!" 


XXXVII 

THE  MINGLING  OF  THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW 

EARLY  on  the  morning  of  the  great  day — before 
the  dawn,  in  truth — the  Tetongs  came  riding  in 
over  the  hills  from  every  quarter  of  the  earth,  bring- 
ing their  finest  clothing,  their  newest  blankets,  and 
their  whitest  tepees,  all  lashed  on  long  poles  between 
which  the  patient  ponies  walked  as  in  the  olden  time. 
Every  man,  woman,  and  child  able  to  sit  a  horse  was 
mounted.  No  one  wore  a  white  man's  hat  or  shoes  or 
vest;  all  were  in  leggings  and  moccasins,  fringed 
and  painted,  and  they  carried  their  summer  blankets 
as  they  once  carried  their  robes  of  the  buffalo-skin. 
Even  the  boys  of  six  and  seven  wore  suits  cunningly 
fashioned  and  decorated  like  those  of  their  elders. 
The  young  warriors,  painted,  and  with  fluttering 
feathers,  rode  their  fleetest  ponies,  with  shoulders 
bare  and  gleaming  like  bronze  in  the  sun. 

With  all  due  form,  without  hurry  or  jostling,  the 
whole  tribe  camped  in  a  wide  ellipse,  each  clan  in  its 
place,  each  family  having  a  fixed  position  in  the  cir- 
cle. The  tepees  rose  like  magic,  and  their  threads 
of  smoke  began  to  creep  up  into  the  clear  sky  like 
mysterious  plants,  slender  and  wavering. 

Greetings  passed  from  camp  to  camp,  the  head 
men  met  in  council,  and,  as  the  sun  rose  higher, 

405 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

swarms  of  the  young  men  galloped  to  and  fro,  laying 
out  a  racing-course  and  making  up  for  a  procession 
under  Wilson's  direction. 

Curtis  said:  "I  am  not  interdicting  any  of  their 
customs  merely  because  they  belong  to  their  old  life, 
but  because  some  of  them  are  coarse  or  hurtful.  Their 
dance  is  not  harmful  unless  protracted  to  the  point 
jf  interfering  with  their  work.  That  they  are  all 
living  somewhat  in  the  past,  to-day,  is  true ;  but  they 
will  put  away  this  finery  and  go  to  work  with  me  to- 
morrow. To  cut  them  off  from  all  amusement  is 
cruel  fanaticism.  No  people  can  endure  without 
amusement/' 

"How  appropriate  their  gay  colors  seem  in  this 
hot,  dun  land!"  remarked  Elsie.  "They  would  look 
gaudy  in  a  studio;  but  out  here  they  are  grateful  to 
the  sense." 

In  the  centre  of  the  wide  circle  of  tepees  a  huge 
bower  of  pines  was  being  erected  for  the  dance,  and 
pulsing  through  the  air  the  voice  of  the  criers  could 
be  heard,  as  they  rode  slowly  round  the  circle  pub- 
lishing the  programme  of  the  day. 

"  Looking  over  the  camp  towards  the  hills  it  is  not 
difficult  to  imagine  one's  self  back  in  the  old  days," 
said  Maynard.  "I  saw  Sitting  Bull  camped  like 
this.  See,  here  is  the  '  Soldier  Lodge '  or  chief's  head- 
quarters," and  he  pointed  to  a  large,  handsome  tepee 
set  in  one  of  the  foci  of  the  big  ellipse. 

Everywhere  they  went  Curtis  and  his  friends 
met  with  hearty  greeting.  "  Hoh — hoh !  The  Little 
Father  1"  the  old  men  cried,  and  came  to  shake  hands, 
and  the  women  smiled,  looking  up  from  their  work. 
The  little  children,  though  they  ran  away  at  first, 

406 


THE  MINGLING  OF  THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW 

came  out  again  when  they  knew  that  it  was  the  Cap- 
tain who  called.  Jennie  gave  hints  about  the  cook- 
ing, and  praised  the  neat  tepees  and  the  pretty  dresses, 
while  Elsie,  looking  upon  it  all  with  reflective  eyes, 
could  not  help  thinking,  "  Such  will  be  my  work  if  I 
do  my  duty  as  a  wife/7 

Once  she  looked  at  the  firm,  bold,  facial  outlines 
of  the  man  she  had  learned  to  love,  and  snuggled  a 
little  closer  into  his  shelter;  he  would  toil  to  make 
every  hardship  light,  that  was  certain;  but,  oh!  the 
dreary  winters!  There  were  moments  when  she  took 
to  herself  a  part  of  the  love  and  obedience  this  people 
showed  Curtis.  Here  was  a  little  kingdom  over  which 
Curtis  reigned,  a  despotic  monarch,  and  she,  if  she  did 
her  duty,  would  reign  by  his  side.  It  had,  at  least, 
the  virtue  of  being  an  unconventional  self-sacrifice. 
And  then,  again,  she  smiled  to  think  that  Elsie  Bee 
Bee  should  feel  a  touch  of  pride  in  being  the  wife  of  an 
Indian  agent  1 

Driving  his  guests  back  to  the  agency,  Curtis  re- 
turned to  the  camp  and  moved  about  on  foot  among 
his  people.  Wherever  he  went  he  seemed  to  give  zest 
to  the  sports,  and  knowing  this  he  remained  with 
them  till  noon,  and  only  came  in  to  rest  his  weary  feet 
and  aching  eyes  for  half  an  hour  before  lunch. 

It  was  unutterably  sweet  to  stretch  out  in  his  big, 
battered  easy  -  chair,  in  the  shaded  coolness  of  the 
library,  and  feel  Elsie's  smooth,  light  hand  in  his 
hair. 

"And  you  are  never  to  leave  me/'  he  said,  dream- 
ily. "I  can't  realize  it  yet."  After  a  pause  he  add- 
ed: "I  am  demanding  too  much  of  you,  sweetheart/' 

"  You  are  demanding  nothing,  sir ;  if  you  did  you 
407 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

wouldn't  get  it.  If  I  choose  to  give  you  anything,  you 
are  to  be  grateful  and  discreetly  silent." 

"  Can't  I  say,  '  Thank  you  '?" 

"Not  a  word." 

"I  am  content/'  he  said,  and  closed  his  eyes  again 
to  express  it,  and  she,  being  unasked,  bent  and 
kissed  his  forehead. 

Rousing  up  a  few  minutes  later,  he  said,  "  I  have  a 
present  in  keeping  for  you/' 

"Have  you?  What  is  it?  Is  it  from  you?  Why 
didn't  you  let  me  see  it  before?" 

He  rose  and  opened  a  closet  door.  "Because  the 
proper  time  had  not  come.  Before  I  show  it  to  you 
I  want  you  to  promise  to  wear  it." 

"I  promise,"  she  instantly  replied. 

"  Don't  be  so  ready ;  I  intend  it  to  be  a  symbol  of 
your  change  of  heart." 

"Well,  then,  I  don't  promise,"  she  said,  backing 
away. 

"I  don't  mean  your  change  of  heart  towards  me; 
I  have  a  ring  to  express  that ;  this  is  to  express  your 
change  of  heart  towards — " 

"Towards  Injuns?" 

"No;  towards  all  'the  small  peoples  of  the  earth/" 

"Well,  then,  I  can't  wear  it;  I  haven't  changed. 
Down  with  them!"  she  shouted,  in  smiling  bravado. 

He  closed  the  door.  "Very  well,  then,  you  shall 
not  even  see  the  present ;  you  are  not  worthy  of  it. " 

"Oh,  please!  please!  I'll  forgive  all  the  heathens 
of  Africa,  if  you  will  only  let  me  see." 

"  I  don't  believe  I  like  that,  either,"  he  replied.  "  You 
are  now  too  flippant.  However,  I'll  hold  you  to  the 
word.  If  you  don't  mean  it  now  you  will  by-and-by/' 

408 


THE  MINGLING  OF  THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW 

Elsie  clapped  her  hands  with  girlish  delight  as 
he  held  up  a  fine  buckskin  dress,  beautifully  adorned 
with  beads  and  quills.  It  was  exquisitely  tanned, 
as  soft  as  silk,  and  a  deep  cream  color. 

"Isn't  it  lovely  I  I'll  wear  it  whether  my  heart  is 
changed  or  not." 

"Here  are  the  leggings  and  moccasins  to  match." 

She  gathered  them  all  up  at  a  swoop.  "  I'm  going 
to  put  them  on  at  once." 

"Wait!"  he  commanded.  "Small  Bird,  who  made 
these  garments,  is  out  in  the  kitchen.  I  want  to  call 
her;  she  can  be  your  maid  for  this  time." 

As  Small  Bird  sidled  bashfully  into  the  hall  Elsie 
cried  out  in  delight  of  her.  She  was  dressed  in  the 
old-time  Tetong  dress,  and  was  exceedingly  comely. 
Her  face  was  carefully  painted  and  her  hair  shone 
with  much  brushing  and  oil.  Her  teeth  were  white 
and  even. 

"Can  she  speak  English?"  asked  Elsie. 

"Not  very  well;  but  she  understands.  Small 
Bird,  the  lady  says,  thank  you.  She  thinks  they  are 
very  fine.  Her  heart  is  glad.  Go  help  her  dress." 

"Come!"  cried  Elsie,  eagerly,  and  fairly  ran  up 
the  stairs  in  her  haste  to  be  transformed  into  a  woman 
of  the  red  people. 

When  she  returned  she  was  a  sister  to  Small  Bird. 
Her  dark  hair  was  braided  in  the  Tetong  fashion, 
her  face  was  browned,  and  her  little  feet  were  clothed 
in  glittering,  beaded  moccasins. 

"  You  look  exactly  like  some  of  the  old  engravings 
of  Mohawk  princesses,"  cried  Curtis.  "Now  you  are 
ready  to  sit  by  my  side  and  review  the  procession." 

"Are  we  to  have  a  procession?" 
409 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

"Indeed  we  are,  as  significant  as  any  mediaeval 
tournament.  I  am  the  resident  duke  before  whom 
the  review  takes  place,  and  I  shall  be  in  my  best  dress 
and  you  are  to  sit  by  my  side — my  bride-elect/' 

"Oh  no!" 

"Oh  yes.  It  is  decided."  He  drew  himself  up 
•  haughtily.  "I  have  said  it,  and  I  am  chief  to-day. 
It  is  good,  Small  Bird/'  he  said,  as  the  Tetong  girl 
started  to  go.  "My  wife  likes  it  very  much." 

Elsie  ran  towards  the  girl  and  took  her  by  the 
shoulders  as  if  to  make  her  understand  the  better. 
"Thank  you;  thank  you!" 

Small  Bird  smiled,  but  surrendered  to  her  timidity, 
and,  turning,  ran  swiftly  out  of  the  room. 

Curtis  hooked  Elsie  in  his  right  arm.  "  Now  all  is 
decreed.  You  have  put  on  the  garb  of  my  people," 
and  his  kiss  stopped  the  protest  she  struggled  to 
utter. 

Surely  the  day  was  a  day  strangely  apart.  Every- 
thing that  could  be  done  to  make  it  symbolic,  to  make 
it  idyllic,  was  done.  Curtis  appeared  after  lunch  in 
a  fine  costume  of  buckskin,  trimmed  with  green  por- 
cupine quills  and  beads,  and  for  a  hat  he  wore  a 
fillet  of  beaver-skin  with  a  single  feather  on  the  back. 
Across  his  shoulder  he  carried  the  sash  of  a  finely 
beaded  tobacco  pouch,  and  in  his  hand  a  long  fringed 
bag,  very  ancient,  containing  a  peace-pipe,  which  had 
been  transmitted  to  Crawling  Elk  by  his  father's  fa- 
ther, a  very  precious  thing,  worn  only  by  chieftains. 

"  Oh,  I  shall  paint  you  in  that  dress,"  cried  Elsie. 

So  accoutred,  he  led  the  way  to  the  canopied  plat- 
form under  the  flag-pole,  where  the  reviewing  party 
were  to  sit.  In  order  that  no  invidious  distinctions 

410 


THE  MINGLING  OF  THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW 

might  be  drawn,  two  or  three  of  the  old  chiefs  and 
their  wives  had  been  given  seats  thereon,  and  they 
were  already  in  place.  Not  many  strangers  were 
present,  for  Curtis  had  purposely  refrained  from  set- 
ting a  day  too  long  ahead,  but  Lawson's  friends  and 
some  relatives  of  the  employe's,  and  several  of  the 
young  officers  from  the  fort  made  up  the  outside 
representation.  Maynard  was  in  his  brightest  uni- 
form, and  Jennie,  looking  very  nice  in  a  muslin 
gown,  and  a  broad,  white  hat,  sat  by  his  side. 

From  the  seats  in  the  stand,  the  camp,  swarming 
with  horsemen,  could  be  seen.  Wilson,  as  grand 
marshal,  was  riding  to  and  fro,  assisted  by  Lawson, 
who  had  entered  into  the  game  'with  the  self-sacri- 
ficing devotion  of  a  drum-major.  His  make-up  was 
superb,  and  when  at  last  he  approached,  leading  the 
cavalcade,  Elsie  did  not  recognize  him.  His  lean 
face,  dark  with  paint,  was  indistinguishably  Tetong, 
seen  from  a  distance,  and  he  sat  his  horse  in  perfect 
simulation  of  his  red  brethren.  He  was  but  re-en- 
acting scenes  of  his  early  life.  His  hunting  -  shirt 
was  dark  with  use,  and  his  splendid  war-bonnet 
trailed  grandly  down  his  back.  He  rode  by,  looking 
neither  to  the  right  nor  the  left,  singing  a  new 
song. 

"We  are  passing. 
See  us  passing  by. 
We  are  leaving  the  old  behind  us. 
The  new  we  seek  to  find.     We  are  passing,  passing  by. " 

Crawling  Elk  followed,  holding  aloft  a  spear  with 
a  green  plume ;  it  was  a  turnip  thrust  through  with  a 
sharp-pointed,  blackened  stick,  and  behind  him,  two 

411 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

and  two,  came  fifty  of  his  young  warriors  carrying 
shining  hoes  upright,  as  of  old  they  carried  their 
lances,  while  at  their  shoulders,  where  quivers  of  ar- 
rows should  have  swung,  dangled  trim  sheaves  of 
green  wheat  and  golden  barley.  The  free  fluttering  of 
their  feather-ornamented  hair,  the  barbaric  painting 
on  their  faces  and  hands,  symbolized  the  old  life,  as 
the  green  arrows  of  the  grain  prefigured  the  new. 
Behind  them  rode  their  women,  each  bearing  in  her 
left  hand  a  bunch  of  flowers.  Those  who  could  read 
wore  on  their  bosoms  a  small,  shining  medal,  and  in 
their  hair  an  eagle  feather.  No  Tetong  woman  had 
ever  worn  a  plume  before. 

Standing  Elk,  quaint  and  bent,  rode  by,  singing 
a  war-song,  magnificent  in  his  dress  as  war  chief, 
leading  some  twenty  young  men.  His  hands  were 
empty  of  the  signs  of  peace,  and  his  face  was  rapt 
with  dreams  of  the  past,  but  his  young  men  carried 
long-handled  forks  which  flamed  in  the  sun,  and 
bracelets  of  green  grass  encircled  their  firm,  brown 
arms.  They,  too,  were  painted  to  signify  their  clan 
and  their  ancestry,  and  the  "  medicine  "  they  affected 
was  on  their  breasts.  Their  wives  were  close  behind, 
each  bearing  a  stalk  of  corn  in  bloom;  their  beaded 
saddles  and  gay  blankets  were  pleasant  to  see.  E  very- 
weapon  bespoke  warfare  against  weeds.  Every  or- 
nament represented  the  better  nature,  the  striving, 
the  aspiration  of  its  wearer. 

Then  came  the  school-children,  adding  a  final  note 
of  pathos,  poor  little  brown  men  and  women  trudg- 
ing on  foot  to  symbolize  that  they  must  go  through 
life,  plodding  in  the  dust  of  the  white  man's  chariot 
wheel — their  toes  imprisoned  in  a  shapeless  box  of 

412 


THE  MINGLING  OF  THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW 

leather,  their  hair  closely  clipped,  their  clothing  hot 
and  restrictive.  Each  carried  a  book  and  a  slate, 
and  their  faces  were  very  intent  and  serious  as  they 
paced  by  on  their  way  from  the  old  to  the  new.  They 
were  followed  by  the  school-band  playing  "  The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner/'  with  splendid  disregard  of  the 
broken  faith  of  the  government  whose  song  it  was. 

And  so  they  streamed  by,  these  folk,  accounted  the 
most  warlike  of  all  red  men,  genially  carrying  out  the 
wishes  of  their  chief,  illustrating,  without  knowing 
it,  the  wondrous  change  which  had  come  to  them; 
the  old  men  still  clinging  to  the  past,  the  young  men 
careless  of  the  future,  the  children  already  trans- 
formed, and,  as  they  glanced  up,  some  smiling,  some 
grave  and  dreaming,  Elsie  shuddered  with  a  species 
of  awe;  it  seemed  as  if  a  people  were  being  disin- 
tegrated before  her  eyes ;  that  the  evolution  of  a  race 
having  proceeded  for  countless  ages  by  almost  im- 
perceptible degrees  was  now  and  here  rushing,  as  by 
mighty  bounds,  from  war  to  peace,  from  hunting  to 
harvesting,  from  primitive  indolence  to  ordered  thrift. 
They  were,  indeed,  passing,  as  the  plains  and  the  wild 
spaces  were  passing;  as  the  buffalo  had  passed;  as 
every  wild  thing  must  pass  before  the  ever-thick- 
ening flood  of  white  ploughmen  pressing  upon  the 
land. 

Twice  they  circled,  and  then,  as  they  all  massed 
before  him,  Curtis  rose  to  sign  to  them. 

"I  am  very  proud  of  you.  All  my  friends  are 
pleased.  My  heart  is  big  with  emotion  and  my  head 
is  full  of  thoughts.  This  is  a  great  day  for  you  and 
also  for  me.  Some  of  you  are  sad,  for  you  long  for 
the  old  things — the  big,  broad  plain,  the  elk,  and  the 

413 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GRAY-HORSE  TROOP 

buffalo.  So  do  I.  I  loved  those  things  also.  But  you 
have  seen  how  it  is.  The  water  of  the  stream  never 
turns  back  to  the  spring,  the  old  man  never  grows 
young,  the  tree  that  falls  does  not  rise  up  again.  So 
the  old  things  come  never  again.  We  have  always 
to  look  ahead.  Perhaps,  in  the  happy  hunting-ground 
all  will  be  different,  but  here  now  we  must  do  our  best 
to  live  upon  the  earth.  It  is  the  law  that,  now  the 
game  being  gone,  we  must  plough  and  sow  and  reap 
the  fruit  of  the  soil.  That  is  the  meaning  of  all  we 
have  done  to-day.  We  have  put  away  the  rifle ;  we 
here  take  up  the  hoe. 

"  I  am  glad  ;  my  heart  is  like  a  bird ;  it  sings  when 
I  see  you  happy.  Listen — I  will  tell  you  a  great  se- 
cret. You  see  this  young  wToman,"  he  touched  Elsie. 
"  You  see  she  wears  the  Tetong  dress,  the  same  as  I ; 
that  means  much.  It  signifies  two  things:  Last 
year  her  heart  was  hard  towards  the  Tetongs ;  now  it 
is  soft.  She  is  proud  of  what  you  have  done.  She 
wears  this  dress  for  another  reason ;  she  is  going  to 
be  my  wife,  and  help  me  show  you  the  good  way/' 
At  this  moment  a  chorus  of  pleased  outcries  broke 
forth.  "  Now,  go  to  your  feast,  Let  everything  be 
orderly.  To-night  we  will  come  to  see  you  dance." 

With  an  outburst  of  jocular  whooping,  the  young 
men  wheeled  their  horses  and  vanished  under  cover 
of  a  cloud  of  dust,  while  the  old  men  and  the  women 
and  the  children  moved  sedately  back  to  camp;  the 
women  chattering  gayly  over  the  day's  exciting  shows, 
and  in  anticipation  of  the  dance  which  was  to  come. 

There  were  tears  in  Elsie's  eyes  as  she  looked  up 
at  Curtis.  "They  have  so  far  to  go,  poor  things! 

414 


THE  MINGLING  OP  THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW 

They  can't  realize  how  long  the  road  to  civilization 
is." 

"I  do  not  care  whether  they  reach  what  you  call 
civilization  or  not ;  the  road  to  happiness  and  peace 
is  not  long,  it  is  short ;  they  are  even  now  entering 
upon  it.  They  can  be  happy  right  here,  and  so  can 
we/'  he  ended,  looking  at  her  with  a  tender  wistful- 
ness.  "Can't  you  understand?" 

"You  have  conquered,"  she  said,  with  deep  feel- 
ing. "  Under  the  spell  of  this  day,  I  feel  your  work 
to  be  the  only  thing  in  the  world  worth  doing."  Her 
words,  her  voice,  so  moved  him  that  he  bent  and  laid 
a  kiss  upon  her  lips.  When  he  could  speak,  he  said : 
"  Now  I  want  to  ask  something  of  you.  I  have  a 
leave  of  absence  for  six  months.  Show  me  the  Old 
World." 

She  sprang  up.     "Ah!     Can  you  go?" 

"When  the  crops  are  garnered  and  sifted,  and  my 
people  clothed  and  sheltered." 

"  I'd  rather  show  you  Paris  than  anything  else  in 
the  world!"  she  cried.  "I'd  almost  marry  you  to  do 
that." 

"Very  well,  marry  me;  we  will  spend  our  honey- 
moon there ;  perhaps  then  you  will  be  willing  to  spend 
one  more  year  here  with  me,  and  then — well —  Never 
cross  the  range  till  you  get  to  it  is  a  maxim  of  the 
trail." 


THE  END 


THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  SANTA  CRUZ 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  DATE  stamped  beiow. 


50m-6,'67(H2523s8)2373 


PS1732.C3  1902 


3  2106  00206  8978 


